Reimagining Trustworthy Autonomous Systems with Disabled Young People

TAS are envisaged to become part of our everyday lives. Disabled young people (DYP) are key end-users and potential co-designers of these future systems, although their experiences and aspirations are rarely acknowledged.

This interdisciplinary project brings together DYP, social and computer science researchers and school and industry partners. We centralise the expertise and aspirations of DYP around questions of trust, resilience and capacity in relation to autonomous systems; thus embedding inclusion, equity, responsible research and innovation in studies of TAS. Our project will make use of co-production methods and makerspaces (collaborative workspaces for making, learning, exploring and sharing). Our project engages with the following key principles of TAS including:

• Collaboration open to all – where we bring together university, school and industry partners;
• Inclusive and responsible research – where we position disabled young people as co-designers and co-researchers;
• Nurturing a diverse research community – centring disabled young people as the agents of change and innovation in relation to promoting more fair and inclusive research practices.

Our aims for the project are to interrogate through co-production and makerspaces the perspectives, experiences and aspirations of disabled young people (DYP) in relation to questions of trust, resilience and capacity as they relate to autonomous systems. We will be exploring the following questions:

1. In what ways can we promote equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to studies of trust and autonomous systems through co-research with DYP?
2. What models of co-production and co-design can be developed that meaningfully engage DYP in an analysis of TAS?
3. What types of inclusive adaptation require development for autonomous systems to operate resiliently with DYP?

This research draws upon qualitative research and co-production methodologies. We will be working with DYP as co-researchers by (1) sharing stories and histories of TAS in our everyday lives; (2) exploring the ethical, practical, and legal barriers and; (3) identifying what do we know from our everyday experiences to make TAS better, and what does TAS need to know about us.

We will design three makerspaces with DYP co-researchers to promote their roles as Co-Researchers, Designers and End-users. Our intention is that these will create testimonies and accounts from DYP regarding TAS and will work to inform good practice guidance.

Our project website can be found here