John Fotheringham, AI Independent Review Project Lead, recounts his journey with AI, from the inception of the Scottish AI Strategy to its review in 2024.

Auld Alliance

Watching Scotland play France at rugby recently, the ‘Auld Alliance’ came to mind. Forged over 700 years ago it’s still evident today, reflected in place names - Edinburgh even has a district called Little France, named from having been home to French members of Mary Queen of Scots’ court – common words and phrases, and more.

I later reflected on an auld alliance of my own renewed last year – with AI.

Avancer

My AI journey began in early 2019 when I was secretariat for the Data Digital Group. After considering several proposals, members endorsed taking forward one to develop an AI strategy for Scotland. Later that year, the Scottish Government committed to developing such a strategy in the Programme for Government 2019-2020.

Assemblage

Though I’d done policy work before, the AI strategy was the first time I’d developed policy from scratch. Working with Steph Wright, now Head of the Scottish AI Alliance, we mapped out a novel and agile strategy development process.

One challenge was to assemble an executive committee to oversee this, and to ensure that all perspectives were voiced and considered appropriately.

Work got fully underway in autumn 2019, with the committee considering possible approaches and priorities, and the growing interest in AI. It was fascinating to see the outline of the strategy set out in the scoping document, published in January 2020.

This was the focus of the consultation, which opened that February, and was intended to shape engagement and working groups. The pandemic saw these conducted virtually, which took longer but allowed more time and space for reflection between the end of the development phase and publishing the strategy.

After a huge amount of work, including to take account of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review and new Digital Strategy, Scotland’s AI Strategy was published in March 2021 – hard to think that’s nearly three years ago.

Something really striking was the reception given to the Strategy’s vision and guiding principles, and the interest from elsewhere in the UK, Europe and beyond.

Though it was clear people across Scotland were interested in AI, it was striking how much interest was growing. The Strategy’s first anniversary, and progress to date, was celebrated at the inaugural Scottish AI Summit in March 2022; this year’s event is on 28 March.

Au Revoir

I moved on from the AI space in spring 2022. Seeing the Alliance go on to establish itself as the forum for work on the Strategy and AI in Scotland more broadly, it was hard to think back to having spent hours developing its structure and role!

Au Retour

June 2023 saw the Alliance’s Leadership Group asked to review what Scotland needs to know and do to maximise AI’s benefits while controlling the risks. A project group was formed, for which my colleague Louise Meikleham and I, alongside the wider Alliance team, provided project management and support.

I was pleased to be able to return to the AI space to support the review, and to help both evaluate the past and shape the future of the Strategy.

Given the Strategy’s vision, the project group decided that “trustworthy, ethical and inclusive” would be the lenses used in the review. For me there was a slight sense of déjà-vu, as I recalled many discussions about the vision as the strategy crystallised!

It was interesting to help evaluate evidence, learn how much had changed, and explore how things were being approached elsewhere. I enjoyed working with group members as they considered the evidence and developed recommendations. These were presented in the initial review report, published on 26 January.

Helping to write this brought back memories, though it felt odd to reflect and write about some activities in the past tense. Speaking of reflections, the Leadership Group would welcome hearing views on the draft recommendations in the report.

Auld Acquaintance

That chat in spring 2019 wasn’t the first I’d heard of AI. I’d had some exposure to it in previous roles, and at university - thinking back to what felt quite advanced then, you could likely do more powerful stuff with just a smartphone now!

My first recollection goes back much earlier. My dad once told me about a chat he’d had with a workmate whose daughter was studying computing science. How he described it always stuck in my mind, and nearly thirty years on I used it in the intro to the review report: I’d be interested to see if anyone can pick it out!

Have your say

Do you believe that trust, ethics and inclusion are important when it comes to AI? Does our suggested action plan help us to maximise the benefits of AI while mitigating the risks?

Your feedback will help guide us in decisions around AI in society, skills, business and beyond.

Have your say by noon on Thursday 29 February.