Three companies embark on exploration phase of CivTech 6 to develop solutions to the challenge of How do we give the citizens of Scotland trust and agency over how AI and algorithms are used in the public sector?

Written by Jeremy Darot and Scott Nowbaveh from the Scottish Government AI team.

The Scottish Government’s AI team has partnered with CivTech Scotland to discover how we give the citizens of Scotland trust and agency over how AI and algorithms are used in the public sector. 

Without question AI is going to play an increasingly important part in our lives. Its potential is enormous, and the Scottish Government would like that potential to be harnessed for societal benefit – to make people’s lives better. But this is only going to happen if AI itself is both transparent and trusted, and that means we need to develop it in such a way that AI is explainable so that people know and understand it, and are able to engage with it.

This challenge has been put out to tender through the Scottish Government’s CivTech Programme, which exists to invite entrepreneurs and start-ups to help solve Challenges faced by public sector organisations.

For public sector organisations, CivTech offers a route to develop highly innovative products and services in a fast, efficient and safe way, using private sector systems such as open challenges and tech accelerators. In a tech world that is increasingly fast paced and ever-changing, CivTech solves the problem of ‘how to procure what you don’t know exists’.

The Scottish Government AI team used this opportunity to tackle the challenge of: How do we give the citizens of Scotland trust and agency over how AI and algorithms are used in the public sector?

This is a complex challenge facing government across the world. The aim is to move beyond discussing this issue and start developing practical solutions.

As this is a very broad topic, it was decided to focus initially on meeting the needs of children. By tackling this group first, the challenge is addressing a group both impacted and particularly disenfranchised regarding use of AI in both public and private sectors.

Today’s children are going to live much of their lives in a world where AI is everywhere – at home, at school, at work. AI is and will be used to influence what books children should read, what friends they should make, what they should study, whom they should go out with, what jobs they should apply for and how they are selected for these. AI impacts children’s lives even before they are born, because it also impacts the lives of their parents. Therefore, children have a huge stake in how AI is used to make decision about them.

The challenge’s objectives are to:

• Provide children and their parents and carers with a clear, accessible and meaningful understanding of how AI is used to help the public sector make decisions about them for specific use cases

• Design a platform and processes to engage and empower children and their parents and carers to have a meaningful, constructive, focused dialogue with the public sector

As this group is complex and diverse, the successful solution will be a great step towards solving this challenge for all the people of Scotland. And it will also enable Scotland to lead by example, in developing best practice in Ethical AI, that can then be followed by the private sector.

This challenge supports the delivery of Scotland’s AI Strategy, which aims to make Scotland a leader in trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI. It reflects our commitment to putting into practice the OECD AI Principles and the UNICEF policy guidance on AI for children, which are at the centre of our strategy.

This challenge also complements another CivTech Challenge where the Scottish Government’s AI team have partnered with Police Scotland to develop the use of explainable AI in the public sector. This Challenge has been focused more on the more technical aspects of designing explainable AI algorithms, rather than on engagement and dialogue with the public.

At this point, three companies have been selected for the three week Exploration phase. During this time the companies will have access to the Challenge Sponsor team and the CivTech team, in order to research and gain a more in-depth understanding of the Challenge. At the end of the Exploration Stage, the companies will submit their revised proposals – which will have been enhanced based on their opportunities to dig deeper into the Challenge – and one will be selected to participate in the CivTech Accelerator.  The Scottish Government’s AI team will work closely with the successful company throughout the fifteen week Accelerator, which starts in October, as they develop a Minimum Viable Product designed specifically to solve this exciting but complex Challenge.

If you’re interested in this work and would like to find out more about the progress then you can join the following free online events:

• Getting AI Right for Every Child - International policy landscape and examples of current practice in AI and children's rights (15 September 2021 ) Details here.

• CivTech Demo Week (7-11 February 2022)

Please get in touch with us  if you’d like to sign up for the September event and watch this space!