A new £2.4 million initiative has been launched, seeing appointed academic researchers help organisations to develop solutions around the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI).

The fellows, from universities across the UK, will apply research expertise from humanities and arts including data ethics, copyright law, digital design, and qualitative analysis to address questions around the responsible use of AI.

The Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) fellowships are part of the BRAID programme. BRAID is led by the University of Edinburgh in partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the BBC.

Each fellow, amounting to 17 in all, will partner with an organisation from the public, private, or third sector, to unite expertise for tackling existing, new, or emerging AI challenges.

Partners from the technology sector include Adobe, Datamind Audio, Diverse AI, Mozilla Foundation, and Microsoft.

Project partners from regulatory and public organisations include the Ada Lovelace Institute, The Alan Turing Institute, the BBC, the Institute for the Future of Work, and the Public Media Alliance.

Elsewhere, fellows will be working with arts and cultural institutions including the Arts Council England, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Serpentine Galleries, and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

The collaborative projects will address questions, including examining approaches for the use of generative AI in the media, exploring the societal and ethical factors shaping the adoption of AI in a medical setting, developing a responsible AI innovation framework for the arts and culture sector, and more.

BRAID co-director Professor Ewa Luger, chair in human-data interaction at Edinburgh College of Art, said: “The 17 fellowships offer opportunities for deeper relationships and joint impact, moving towards a genuine embedding of arts and humanities knowledge within how we think about, develop and deploy AI in practice and in the world.

“It is our hope that with these connections, and working towards common challenges across sectors and diverse communities, we will take substantial strides towards a more responsible AI ecosystem.”

BRAID, based at Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh, aims to integrate arts and humanities research more fully into the responsible AI ecosystem, as well as bridging the divides between academic, industry, policy and regulatory work on responsible AI.

The 17 fellowship recipients are:

1. Professor Nick Bryan-Kinns, University of the Arts London – project partner, BBC R&D.
   Explainable Generative AI in the BBC: Developing explainable AI approaches for creative practice within the BBC and beyond.
2. Professor Mercedes Bunz, King’s College London – project partner, Serpentine Galleries.
   AI art beyond the gallery: Exploring the capacity of cultural institutions to impact tech policy.
3. Ms Clementine Collett, University of Cambridge – project partner, Institute for the Future of Work.
   Co-designing responsible technology and policy for the impact of generative AI on the writing and publishing of the novel.
4. Dr Bahareh Heravi, University of Surrey – project partner, BBC R&D.
   Enhancing Responsible AI Literacy at BBC and beyond.
5. Dr Federica Lucivero, University of Oxford – project partner, Ada Lovelace Institute.
   Anticipating Today: Co-creating techno-moral tools for responsible AI governance.
6. Dr Caterina Moruzzi, The University of Edinburgh – project partner, Adobe.
   CREA-TEC: Cultivating Responsible Engagement with AI Technology to Empower Creatives.
7. Dr Oonagh Murphy, Goldsmiths, University of London – project partner, Arts Council England.
   Developing a Responsible AI Innovation Framework for the subsidised arts and culture sector, with Arts Council England.
8. Dr Martin Parker, University of Edinburgh – project partner, Datamind Audio.
   Machining Sonic Identities: Exploring the issue of digital sound identity, including how AI creates sound, and questions of provenance and ownership.
9. Dr Kyrill Potapov, University College London – project partner, Microsoft Research.
   Human-Centred AI for the Equitable Smart Energy Grid.
10. Dr Sanjay Sharma, University of Warwick – project partner, Diverse AI.
    Inclusive Futures: Radical Ethics and Transformative Justice for Responsible AI.
11. Dr Anna-Maria Sichani, University of London – project partner, The Alan Turing Institute.
    Responsible data, models and workflows: Responsible AI digital skills provision for the cultural heritage community.
12. Ms Caroline Sinders, University of the Arts London – project partner, Mozilla Foundation.
    Centering Creativity and Responsibility for AI Tools for Artists, Creatives and Makers.
13. Dr Alex Taylor, University of Edinburgh – project partner, Microsoft Research.
    Muted registers: A feminist intersectional (re)figuring of red-teaming.
14. Dr Pip Thornton, University of Edinburgh – project partner, Edinburgh International Book Festival.
    Writing the Wrongs of AI: LLMs, copyright and creativity in the age of Generative AI.
15. Dr Beverley Townsend, University of York – project partner, Microsoft Research.
    Regulatory guidelines informing the societal and ethical factors shaping medical AI adoption.
16. Dr Paula Westenberger, Brunel University London – project partner, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
    Responsible AI for Heritage: copyright and human rights perspectives.
17. Dr Kate Wright, University of Edinburgh – project partner, Public Media Alliance.
    Responsible AI in International Public Service Media.