- A new campaign to address the fears and questions people have about AI - championed by a retired librarian and grandmother of three from Morecambe - has been launched by researchers at the University of Sheffield
- Let’s Talk AI aims to help the public better understand the technology
- Campaign is built on entirely what people from across the UK have said they want to know about AI
A new AI awareness campaign designed to address people’s fears and questions about the technology, has been launched by researchers from the University of Sheffield.
Led by Dr Susan Oman, Senior Lecturer in Data, AI and Society, and championed by Margaret Colling, a retired librarian and grandmother of three from Morecambe - the campaign is built entirely on what real people across the country have said they want to know about AI.
Let’s Talk AI aims to raise awareness of AI among the general public through webtoon stories - digital comics designed to scroll vertically - appearing on bus stops and social media, supported by a resource hub at Letstalkai.org.uk
The first three stories cover AI in the media, AI in everyday life, and AI in schools, and each one addresses the real fears and questions people have about AI.
Margaret Colling is now one of the campaign's leading advocates and whose idea it was to display the creatives on bus stops across the UK. Margaret was volunteering in her local tea shop when she came across an opportunity to join a people's panel on AI. What she learnt opened her eyes - from AI being used to make decisions about people's benefits and healthcare, to scam emails becoming harder to spot, to her own grandchildren already using AI for schoolwork. But it also made her realise she'd been given access to information most people never get.
Led by Dr Oman, the project spent six months running research and community workshops, asking residents about their fears, questions and experiences of AI. The characters and storylines in the webtoons were drawn directly from those conversations, illustrated by artist Kitty McEwan.
Let’s Talk AI builds on the University of Sheffield-led Public Voices in AI, a £1 million UKRI-funded research project which found people overwhelmingly want to understand AI better but feel excluded from the conversation. It is supported by an expert advisory group including the Government Office for Science, the Ada Lovelace Institute and Connected by Data, complementing the campaign's real experts: the members of the public who shaped it.
Margaret Colling said: "I wanted this campaign on bus stops because that's where we can reach people - waiting for the bus, going about their lives. Not at conferences or on webinars. As a librarian I've always believed information should be for everyone, and right now when it comes to AI, it isn't. This pilot is in three locations, and I’d love to see it on bus stops up and down the country. It needs to be national policy.”
Dr Susan Oman, Senior Lecturer in Data, AI and Society at the University of Sheffield, said: "Government AI skills initiatives focus on upskilling the workforce and schools, but there’s nothing to encourage healthy discussions and informed usage for the rest of us. The grandparent navigating scam emails, the parent trying to keep up with what their children are doing online, or for anyone encountering AI for the first time. ‘Let’s Talk AI’ is designed to fill that gap.
“When we asked communities what they wanted, they told us they needed a better understanding of how AI works in their lives and for people they know. They don’t want webinars or reports. They wanted characters and stories they could identify with. This pilot shows what a national AI awareness campaign for the public could look like. Now we need the government to back it.”
Reflecting the University’s commitment to independent thinking and a shared ambition, Let’s Talk AI demonstrates how creative minds at Sheffield are shaping solutions to global challenges.
Let’s Talk AI is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). To find out more about the campaign, visit: http://Letstalkai.org.uk
