Dr Catherine Menon
“Although there’s a public willingness to engage with AI, there are ethical concerns that have to be listened to when we develop this kind of technology.”
Dr Catherine Menon is a lecturer in the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, and a member of the British Standards Institute (BSI) committee, which develops guidance and ethics for robots and autonomous systems. These standards must be followed by all UK developers working on AI and autonomous technology.
Catherine is particularly passionate about transparency; she understands the public mistrust and fear around autonomous technology and her work is focused on making the programming and decision-making process of that particular piece of technology, whether it is an Alexa smart speaker or a self-driving car, accessible. She has worked on an assurance based template developers can use to explain the ethical principles they have applied when creating autonomous vehicles; for example, if facing an unavoidable collision, whether a car would prioritise the safety of children over older people.
Catherine describes herself not as 'pro AI' but a 'pro explainer of AI', and says "this technology is being used in many sectors, some where the stakes are really high like defence or transport. We need to make sure that the systems come with a set of principles, documentation, consideration of ethical issues, transparency, and reliability. This is important not just from a safety perspective, but to ensure all of society get to benefit; not just the early adopters who are more inclined to understand and trust this technology."