The United Nations have appointed Dame Wendy Hall to their new high-level advisory body on artificial intelligence (AI).
Dame Wendy is a Regius Professor of Computer Science from the University of Southampton and Director of its Web Science Institute.
She leads the Data, Health and Society theme at the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre.
Dame Wendy was named the first UK artificial intelligence skills champion in 2018.
International governance of AI
She was selected from more than 1,800 nominees across 128 countries. She joins 31 experts from across the world. They will undertake analysis and give recommendations for the international governance of AI.
Dame Wendy said: “I feel very privileged to have been appointed by the United Nations to be on this new AI advisory body.
“As new AI technologies and capabilities emerge, it is so important that we harness them for good, while ensuring they don’t evolve in ways that would be harmful to society.
"It is very exciting to be part of the global discussions on the best way to manage this.”
Insights from her work
Her role in the UN advisory body will see Dame Wendy work with experts from government, private sector and civil society. She will provide insights from the breadth of her research at Southampton.
This includes the £31 million Responsible AI UK programme, known as RAI UK. This programme intends to fuel Britain’s ambitions to be a science and technology superpower.
The new UN advisory body will start this month, working together for a year. It will submit its recommendations in late 2024.
Read more about Dame Wendy’s pioneering work in computer science and AI in Southampton at damewendydbe.com.
Image credit: University of Southampton