Civic Agency
November 7, 2020 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on Civic Agency
Civic Agency is an initiative for engaging people at all levels of society with the social, cultural, economic and political issues at the heart our our increasingly automated and divisive world:
- How are decisions made and justified that affect us in ways we are often unaware of?
- Who designs these systems and what are the choices they make?
- Why are they necessary? and,
- In what ways can they become transparent as to purpose, intention and consequence?
We must find new strategies for everyone to be able to navigate the implications for our futures as we become ever more reliant on digital systems and technologies to run everyday life. As we spend more and more time interacting online and generating data about ourselves and our behaviours to be harvested by corporations and governments, so we need alternative spaces to challenge and speak truth to power and control.
Proboscis’ work for over two decades has focused on introducing creative tools and artistic methods into unusual places and situations – where they may help produce alternative ways for people to acquire agency for themselves and to feel empowered to share their voices, and their values. Since 2001 we have done this under over-arching research themes. From 2020 Civic Agency will be our theme, inter-weaving through our projects and activities and building upon all our previous work and ideas.
The theme originates in an idea that emerged from our participation in the UnBias research project on algorithmic bias (2016-18), for which we created a Fairness Toolkit aimed at helping young people and other non-technology-experts (i.e. ordinary folk) build their awareness and understanding of what bias in algorithms is and how it affects them and their communities. In 2019 Giles Lane outlined a vision for how we might build upon that concept and expand it into a national programme. In 2020, Proboscis was commissioned to develop a companion toolkit that would help organisations developing and deploying AI and algorithmic systems implement practical and pragmatic ethics assessments using a whole systems approach.
Over the next few years we plan to develop the partnerships and collaborations necessary to turn the vision of civic agency into a practical (and trans-national) programme that engages all kinds of people in all kinds of places with ways in which they can interrogate the systems of power that authorise the use of automated decision making in our societies. A programme that stimulates critical and civic thinking; that offers trajectories for resistance to authoritarianism and, that can be a platform for stimulating new forms of transparency and intervention.
Artists of all kinds often serve as society’s visionaries – thinking the unthinkable, exploring the impossible and making our own paths rather than following the established tracks. We are pioneers and explorers – seeking out new vistas and experiences and relaying them to others through the media of our creations. The discoveries we make and bring back become the tangible forms that others can be inspired by and act upon themselves. Creativity and artistic expression are powerful ways for people to take agency for themselves and to feel empowered to have and share their voices. We see this as a vital counter-balance to the increasingly pervasive systems of automated decision making in everyday life.
UnBias AI4DM Teaching and Learning video
October 17, 2020 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on UnBias AI4DM Teaching and Learning video
A brief animation with some ideas for using the UnBias AI For Decision Makers in online and in-person classes. Watch our other animations here.
AI For Decision Makers
September 15, 2020 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on AI For Decision Makers
Our practical ethics and governance toolkit for AI and automated systems is now available to download in a DIY print-at-home version, and we are running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for a production run to make the toolkit widely affordable.
Download the FREE AI For Decision Makers Toolkit (Zip 11Mb)
AI4DM Worksheet only (PDF 400Kb)
Read the Handbook Online
Order your set now from our online store
“Quite frankly this is the best bit of communication in this area I have ever seen. It is the perfect complement to the UnBias Fairness Toolkit. Together they can be adopted by any organisation in business, charity, education, healthcare etc etc.
Lord Clement-Jones CBE
Especially in the light of recent events I just wish that every member of the Government and the Civil Service had a set!
I know how difficult it is to refine the language so that it really gets through. You have done a superb job.”
Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence (2017–2018)
AI4DM is a suite of critical thinking tools enabling cross-organisational stakeholders to implement transdisciplinary ethical and governance assessments of planned or existing AI and automated decision-making systems.
It naturally fosters participation, bringing people together to map AI systems, existing and proposed, against the organisation’s own mission, vision, values and ethics.
It uses a whole systems approach to analyse organisational structures and operations, illuminating to participants the breadth of issues beyond their individual responsibilities.
The tools are intuitive, practical and can be used for:
- revealing where and how a system is either in alignment, and where it is (or could be) misaligned with the organisation’s mission, vision, values and ethics;
- enabling different stakeholders to appreciate where and how their obligations and responsibilities intersect with those of others.
- emphasising the collective nature of lawful and ethical responsibilities across the whole organisation
- providing a mechanism for a deep analysis of complex challenges.
The toolkit was conceived, created and designed by Giles Lane with illustrations by Alice Angus. It was commissioned by Ansgar Koene at EY Global Services.
Download the Flyer (PDF 80Kb)
UnBias Research Project
April 4, 2020 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on UnBias Research Project
Proboscis was a partner in the UnBias: Emancipating Users Against Algorithmic Biases for a Trusted Digital Economy project led by Horizon Digital Economy Institute at University of Nottingham, the Human Centred Computing research group in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, and the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh.
The project looked at the user experience of algorithm driven internet services and the process of algorithm design. A large part of this work was user group studies to understand the concerns and perspectives of citizens. UnBias aimed to provide policy recommendations, ethical guidelines and a ‘fairness toolkit’ co-produced with young people and other stakeholders that will include educational materials and resources to support youth understanding about online environments as well as raise awareness among online providers about the concerns and rights of young internet users. The project is relevant for young people as well as society as a whole to ensure trust and transparency are not missing from the internet.
Proboscis led the co-design of the UnBias Fairness Toolkit – which was launched at the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Digital Design Weekend in September 2018.
Team: Giles Lane & Alice Angus (Proboscis) with Alex Murdoch.
Partners:
- HORIZON Digital Economy Research at the University of Nottingham
- Human Centred Computing Group at the, University of Oxford
- The Centre for Intelligent Systems and their Applications (CISA)at the University of Edinburgh
Funded by EPSRC (EP/N02785X/1) under the Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security (TIPS) call.
Begun 2016 | Completed 2018
UnBias
December 8, 2018 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on UnBias
The UnBias Fairness Toolkit is a critical and civic thinking tool for exploring how decisions are made by algorithms and the impact that they have on our lives.
Download the FREE UnBias Fairness Toolkit (Zip 18Mb)
Read the Handbook Online
Read the Facilitator Booklet Online
A practical companion and extension set for exploring ethics and governance in AI and automated decision making systems is now available:
Download the FREE AI For Decision Makers Toolkit (Zip 11Mb)
AI4DM Worksheet only (PDF 400Kb)
Read the Handbook Online
Watch training & info animations on our YouTube Playlist
Download Flyer (A4 PDF 80Kb)
*** Buy a set from our online store ***
* * *
Print-on-demand
- Buy the UnBias Awareness Cards (direct from manufacturer)
* * *
Research Project 2016-18
Proboscis was a partner in the UnBias: Emancipating Users Against Algorithmic Biases for a Trusted Digital Economy project – led by the Horizon Institute at Nottingham University with the Universities of Oxford & Edinburgh and funded by EPSRC (EP/N02785X/1) under the Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security (TIPS) programme.
Proboscis led the co-design of the UnBias Fairness Toolkit – which was launched at the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Digital Design Weekend in September 2018.
UnBias Showcase video
October 29, 2018 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on UnBias Showcase video
A video with clips and brief interviews from the UnBias Showcase event on 1st October 2018:
See my clip at 5.05
UnBias Toolkit Workshops at V&A Digital Design Weekend
September 12, 2018 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on UnBias Toolkit Workshops at V&A Digital Design Weekend
I will be running four workshops with Alex Murdoch exploring the UnBias Fairness Toolkit at the V&A’s Digital Design Weekend on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd September. Each workshop is intended for different audiences and contexts in which the toolkit could be used.
UnBias Fairness Toolkit Educators Workshop
Seminar Room 1, Sackler Centre for arts education
Saturday 22, 11.30-13.30
Algorithms, bias, trust and fairness: how do you engage young people is understanding and discussing these issues? How do you stimulate critical thinking skills to analyse decision- making in online and automated systems? Explore practical ideas for using the UnBias Fairness Toolkit with young people to frame conversations about how we want our future internet to be fair and free for all.
UnBias Fairness Toolkit Industry Stakeholders Workshop
Seminar Room 1, Sackler Centre for arts education
Saturday 22, 14.30-16.30
The UnBias project is initiating a “public civic dialogue” on trust, fairness and bias in algorithmic systems. This session is for people in the tech industry, activists, researchers, policymakers and regulators to explore how the Fairness Toolkit can inform them about young people’s and others’ perceptions of these issues, and how it can facilitate their responses as contributions to the dialogue.
DESIGN TAKEOVER ON EXHIBITION ROAD
Sunday 23, 10.00-17.00
Celebrate ten years of London Design Festival at the V&A with a special event on Exhibition Road. Bringing together events by the Brompton Design District, Imperial College, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the V&A, this fun-filled day of design, workshops and talks will offer something for everyone, and a unique way into the many marvels of Albertopolis.
UnBias Fairness Toolkit Workshops
Young people (12-22 yrs) 12.00-13.30
Open Sessions 15.30-17.00
What is algorithmic bias and how does it affect you? How far do you trust the apps and services you use in your daily life with your data and privacy? How can we judge when an automated decision is fair or not? Take part in group activities exploring these questions using the UnBias Fairness Toolkit to stimulate and inspire your own investigations.
Colleagues from Oxford University and Horizon Digital Economy Institute will also be running UnBias activities as part of the event:
UnBias
The Raphael Cartoons, Room 48a
Drop-in from 12.00-16.00
How do you feel about fake news, filter bubbles, unfair or discriminatory search results and other types of online bias? How are decisions made online? What types of personal data do you share with online companies and services? Do you trust them? Explore these through a range of activities, from Being the Algorithm to Creating a Data Garden, and from Public Voting to making a TrustScape of how you feel about these issues. Suitable for families.
UnBias: Our Future Internet video
May 21, 2018 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on UnBias: Our Future Internet video
UnBias Fairness Toolkit Preview
March 13, 2018 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on UnBias Fairness Toolkit Preview
Here is the presentation from a workshop held in London yesterday at which I previewed the Fairness Toolkit I’ve been leading the development of for the UnBias project. It still requires further testing and refining, so feedback and comments are most welcome:
