What should the government do about artificial intelligence?

In addition, the Committee will be holding an evidence session on Wednesday 13 December 2017 with Dr Jérôme Pesenti, CEO, Benevolent Technology, BenevolentAI and co-Chair of the Government's Growing the artificial intelligence industry in the UK review, published in October 2017, to discuss that review and the future of its recommendations.

At 3.30pm on Tuesday 12 December the Committee will take evidence from:

• Professor Rose Luckin, Professor of Learner Centred Design, UCL Institute of Education
  Professor Luckin has been developing and writing about the learning sciences, educational technology and AI in education (AIEd) for over 20 years. Her research explores how to increase participation by teachers and learners in the design and use of technologies. She is the author of Re-Designing Learning Contexts (Routledge, 2010) and lead author of the influential Decoding Learning report (Nesta, 2012).
• Miles Berry, Principal Lecturer, School of Education, University of Roehampton
  Miles Berry's principal research focus is on pedagogies for computing education. He has contributed to projects such as: the national curriculum computing programmes of study, BBC Bitesize primary computing resources, QuickStart Computing for the British Computer Society (BCS) and Microsoft, and Hello World, a magazine by and for computing and digital making educators.
• Graham Brown-Martin, author and entrepreneur
  Mr Brown-Martin is a leader in the field of foresight and anticipatory research, bringing together social, political and technological trends to consider how we might prepare ourselves for the future. He is the author of Learning {Re}imagined, a best-selling book on global education.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

• What does AI mean for education in the UK? Do we need to re-think how and what is taught at schools to take account of AI, or is the current approach the correct one?
• What should the appropriate balance be between computer science and other subjects at schools?
• How can it be ensured that the arts and humanities, which may become even more important with an increasing focus on creativity in the workplace, are not crowded out by computer science and other technical and scientific subjects?
• What is deterring girls from getting, and staying, interested in computer science?

At 4.30pm:

• The Rt Hon. Matt Hancock MP, Minister of State for Digital, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)
  Mr Hancock is the MP for West Suffolk, having been elected in 2010. Since July 2016 he has served at DCMS as Minister of State for Digital and is responsible for broadband, broadcasting, creative industries, cyber and the tech industry.
• Lord Henley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
  Lord Henley is a Conservative member of the House of Lords. He was appointed as a BEIS minister on 27 October 2017. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy brings together responsibilities for business, industrial strategy, science, innovation, energy, and climate change.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

• Does the UK need a specific and standalone strategy on AI?
• How can the recently announced AI institutions interact but not overlap with one another?
• How are the Government's AI-related policies going to make a difference to non-technology focused SMEs?
• Given the possible impact of artificial intelligence on the labour market, is the Government considering how to mitigate this now?
• What assessment has the Government made of existing regulations related to AI to ensure that they are fit for purpose, now and in the future?

On Wednesday 13 December 2017 the Committee will take evidence at 2.05pm from:

• Dr Jérôme Pesenti, CEO, Benevolent Technology, BenevolentAI and co-Chair of the Government's Growing the artificial intelligence industry in the UK review, published in October 2017.
  Dr Pesenti is a world leading pioneer in AI and has been focused on big data and machine learning for the past 16 years. He joined BenevolentAI from IBM Watson where he created and led the development of the Watson Platform—a set of cloud services leveraging natural language processing and machine learning that allows developers around the world to embed AI technologies into their applications.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

• Are you satisfied with the Government's response to the Review?
• How could the implementation of the review's recommendations be measured successfully?
• Is there a risk that the UK is being overly cautious in its approach to AI?

These evidence sessions will take place at 3.30pm on Tuesday 12 December in Committee Room 4A and at 2.05pm on Wednesday 13 December 2017 in Committee Room 2 of the House of Lords.