About the Talk
Public sector AI has the potential to harm citizens, with risks increasing as its use expands. Recent work positions public procurement as a way to shape public sector AI in line with public interests, using the state’s purchasing power to influence which AI systems are procured and under what conditions.
In this presentation, Emma explored how this potential could be realised in practice by drawing on semi-structured interviews with UK/EU buyers, providers, and procurement experts. More specifically, she highlighted six promising procurement practices that enable the public sector to shape AI in line with public interests, alongside concrete mechanisms to support their uptake. These practices as well as derived interventions provide directions for both research and practice on how public procurement can be used as a governance mechanism for better aligning AI with public interests.
About the Speaker
Bridging academia and advocacy, Emma Kallina is a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Compliant & Accountable Systems Group (spanning the University of Cambridge and the Research Center Trustworthy Data Science & Security) and serves as the Public Interest Tech Lead at AI & Equality by Women at the Table.
A frequent speaker on the global stage, she has co-organised and presented her work at major international forums, including UNESCO and the UN Forum for Business and Human Rights.