Alan Turing AI institute in male appointments diversity row

THE UK’S national artificial intelligence (AI) institute has been hit by a diversity row after staff questioned the appointment of four male senior scientists.

Employees and researchers at the Alan Turing Institute, Britain’s flagship data science and AI research organisa- tion set up in 2015, questioned whether its “commitment to inclusivity” was being followed.

More than 180 signed a letter, which was first reported by The Guardian, after four top male academics were appointed in February. The signatories said the hiring suggested a “continuing trend of limited diversity within the institute’s senior scientific leadership”.

In the letter, addressed to chief executive Jean Innes and its operations lead and chief scientist, the staff said: “This is an excellent time to reflect on whether all voices are being heard and if the institute’s commitment to inclusivity is being fully realised in our recruitment and decision-making.”

The Government agreed to hand the institute a further £100m over the next five years for research focusing on “grand challenges” in the use of data

and AI in healthcare, defence and sustainability. Four new scientists, including experts from UCL and Imperial College London, were hired to help lead those efforts. All were men.

The staff who signed the letter to the Turing Institute’s leadership said their intention was “not to undermine” the scientists’ credentials, but they added: “Our aim is to highlight a broader issue within our institute’s approach to diversity and inclusivity, particularly in scientific leadership roles, with a specific eye towards gender diversity.”

Four of the 12 research programme directors at the Institute are women.

Ms Innes, chief executive of the Institute, said: “Our appointments are made through free and fair competition and on the basis of merit. We recognise the critical importance of diverse leadership and welcome dialogue with our community about what more we can do.

“As the national institute for data science and AI we are committed to increasing the proportion of under-represented groups in these fields.”

According to the institute, 80pc of AI venture capital funding went to allmale led start-ups in the last decade, just 0.3pc went to female-only teams.