Jun 22, 2024

Dr Oldfield spoke to the National Technicians Development Forum on how AI is filtering into the lab and how practitioners can work with advanced technology. It is increasingly important that subject matter experts are able to understand models within their discipline. These models should have all the relevant paperwork and transparency to be understood and where that does not exist it should be challenged. Technicians are often overlooked, which is a critical failure. When we model in government we don’t exclude military or policy advisors who know their area. These post holders are critical team members for model development. The same goes for technicians and end users. We don’t exclude the public from being involved in public service AI development because in the end it is they who have to access and use it.

Being aware of who needs to be on the team and how to develop robust and safe AI is a critical endeavour. It starts with making sure the subject matter expert is an integral member of the team.