AAIP publish 'A Year in Review: 2022'

2022 was the penultimate year of the Lloyd's Register Foundation-funded Assuring Autonomy International Programme (AAIP) at The University of York. To recognise the achievements over the last 12 months, AAIP has produced an Annual Review - now available to download on the AAIP website.

Programme Director, John McDermid, reflects on this seminal year in the programme's history. 

"Collaboration has always been at the heart of our assuring autonomy work. The challenges of assuring the safety of autonomous systems are vast, with new ones emerging as we edge closer to wide deployment. We must work together to ensure their safe introduction and operation.

In 2022 we grew our international community. New partners have helped us engage with the public, influence upcoming standards, and find new funding to answer some of the emerging challenges. We’ve also worked with partners to validate and refine our guidance.

Our work with regulators has progressed, with bespoke training for two regulatory organisations, and more planned for next year. In December we brought together over 40 staff from 11 different regulatory and standards organisations for the first in a series of workshops that will help us identify common challenges of assuring and regulating AI- and ML-based systems. By identifying these areas of overlap we will enable regulators to make greater progress by working together. This work will be developed at follow-on workshops in 2023.

This year’s achievements, and those of previous years, have been part of an evaluation by independent consultants, considering our impact to date. Our community, our expertise, our multidisciplinary approach, and our influence on safety practices and skills are elements we’re especially proud of. We’ve also set the conditions for more change and look forward to seeing this impact in the future.

So, as we move into the final year of our current Programme, we are exploring new ventures and considering how we best tackle the challenges associated with the safe operation of autonomous systems and the wider societal impacts of their introduction. We’ve delivered some notable achievements this year and we’re excited by what is to come."

Professor John McDermid OBE FREng, Programme Director, Assuring Autonomy International Programme