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.
Our mission
We are 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 recognise the power asymmetries that exist in ethical and legal debates around the development of data-driven technologies, and will represent people in those conversations. We focus not on the types of technologies we want to build, but on the types of societies we want to build.
Through research, policy and practice, we aim to ensure that the transformative power of data and AI is used and harnessed in ways that maximise social wellbeing and put technology at the service of humanity.
Our strategy
We have just launched our 2025-2028 strategy. 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 challenge 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.
Our work
We focus our research, practice and policy engagement on the following objectives:
- Explore how people and society are being affected by AI, and what ‘AI in the public interest’ could mean.
- Evidence and shape the use of AI and data-driven technologies where they most impact people and society, with a focus on the public sector.
- Evaluate and inform incentives for managing AI risks.
- Examine vehicles for the redistribution of power and opportunity across society.
See what projects we are working on.
Our impact
We take a relational approach to impact, looking at our work as part of a contribution alongside other actors. We attribute impact to our activities realistically in the ecosystem and the complex conditions we seek to change.
We look for indicators and evidence of influence or change in the world, resulting from Ada’s work towards several outcomes:
- Building evidence through our research
- Convening diverse voices
- Shaping policy and practice on AI and data in the UK, EU and internationally.
- Amplifying the voices of people to ensure that public opinions, attitudes and concerns inform debates and decision-making about data and AI.
As well as pursuing our own research agenda, much of Ada’s influence comes through working in partnership with other organisations as an effective way to amplify our capacity, broaden our expertise and ensure the impact of our work.
Find out more about who we work with.