Reimagining Trustworthy Autonomous Systems with Young People
We assume that trustworthy autonomous systems (or TAS) will make our future better. Think AI powered robots that could help us go about our everyday lives. But WHOSE future do trustworthy autonomous systems improve?
Right now, the design of TAS is not inclusive. Technology created to assist, rarely involves the user in the processes of research, design and creation. Researchers from the Universities of Sheffield and York have been working with nine students from Greenacre Special School as co-researchers and co-designers in reflecting, and reimagining trustworthy autonomous systems.
A bit more about our research
Trustworthy Autonomy Systems (TAS) are part of our everyday lives. Disabled young people are key end-users and potential co-designers of these future systems, although their experiences and aspirations are rarely acknowledged. In this interdisciplinary project, we brought together a team of social and computer scientists - to work alongside student co-researchers at Greenacre School - facilitated by educator researchers: teachers familiar to the young people as their teachers who also worked with us as researchers on this project.
Embracing a host of participatory, accessible, active and innovative research methods, we sought to centralise the expertise and aspirations of our young people to address issues of trust, resilience and capacity in relation to autonomous systems.
To challenge this, we posed the following research questions:
In what ways can we promote equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to studies of trust and autonomous systems through co-research with disabled young people?
What models of co-production and co-design can be developed that meaningfully engage disabled young people in an analysis of TAS?
What types of inclusive adaptation require development for autonomous systems to operate resiliently with disabled young people?
To respond to these questions, we set the following research objectives:
Carry out a critical review of the TAS literature to interrogate inclusion/exclusion of disabled young people.
Adopt co-production methods to explore disabled young people's perspectives on TAS.
Draw on the practices of makerspaces to explore the aspirations of disabled young people in relation to TAS.
Deliver knowledge exchange activities that communicate disabled young people’s perspectives and aspirations in relation to TAS
We'd like to thank the UKRI TAS Hub for funding this project (Grant number: EP/V00784X/)
The UKRI TAS Hub assembles a team from the Universities of Southampton, Nottingham and King’s College London. The Hub sits at the centre of the £33M Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Programme, funded by the UKRI Strategic Priorities Fund. Visit: www.tas.ac.uk