Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in the Ada Lovelace Institute and openings on our Oversight Board as well as our vacancy in the position of Associate Director, Emerging Technology & Industry Practice.
The Ada Lovelace Institute is an independent research institute with a mission to ensure that data and AI work for people and society. We believe that a world where data and AI work for people and society is a world in which the opportunities, benefits and privileges generated by data and AI are justly and equitably distributed and experienced. We were established by the Nuffield Foundation in 2018, in collaboration with The Alan Turing Institute, the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Statistical Society, the Wellcome Trust, Luminate, techUK and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.
We have just launched our 2025-2028 strategy, meaning this is an exciting time to join us. Over the next three years, we will explore and evidence how data and AI interact with people and services; examine which models of governance work in the public interest; and identify and challenge power imbalances. We will interrogate the stories we are told and sold about technology, investigating the complex realities of how data and AI technologies interact with real people and services.
In a time of changing and weakening institutions, Ada will bring evidence, rigour and new perspectives together as we seek to place people and society at the centre of decision-making about AI, amplifying the hopes, aspirations and fears of people as AI becomes intertwined with their everyday lives.
We are now recruiting up to 4 new voluntary members to our Oversight Board, to join a group of diverse and talented individuals from different backgrounds to advise the Director and executive and oversee the strategy, performance and remit of the Institute, ensuring that the Ada Lovelace Institute can continue to increase its impact. We will be particularly interested in candidates with skills/experience in the following areas:
- Strategic vision, with experience of strategic leadership and the ability to steer delivery at an organisational level.
- Government/Civil Service policy experience and/or deep understanding of the practicalities of running front-line public sector services.
- Technical expertise, with an understanding of the development and deployment of data technologies and AI and/or of industry practice in this field.
- Academic experience, with a particular interest in some of the following: social science; computer science; AI; philosophy and ethics, related areas of legal expertise is also desirable.
We are also seeking to appoint a new Associate Director, Emerging Technology & Industry Practice, a rare chance to lead a truly independent research team working at the intersection of people, technology, CSOs and academia.
The Associate Director will lead our Emerging Technology & Industry Practice research domain, which undertakes research exploring the societal implications of emerging technologies and what steps developers of these technologies can take to address them. During the new strategic period this will include work that:
- Evidences the utility, efficacy, and impacts of emerging technologies on affected communities, primarily in the UK.
- Assesses the effectiveness and impacts of emerging AI governance and accountability practices like audits, impact assessments and model evaluations.
- Encourages the adoption of accountability practices by a wider set of public and private sector actors.
- Ensures global proposals for AI and data regulation reflect our research into emerging accountability practices and technologies.
These roles offer an unmatched opportunity to oversee and lead Ada’s work as part of its strategy, building a world where data and AI work for people and society. Our independence, people focus and drive to be led by the evidence increasingly set us apart – we’d love you to be part of this.
Please click through to find out more about Ada, these opportunities, and to register your interest.
We look forward to working with you,
Dame Julie Maxton – Chair, Ada Lovelace Institute Oversight Board
Gaia Marcus – Director, Ada Lovelace Institute