SAIFCA at ‘Women Leading Britain’s AI Future’ in the House of Lords

In July, representatives from the Safe AI for Children Alliance joined experts, policymakers and industry leaders at the House of Lords for the Parliamentary Roundtable ‘Women Leading Britain’s AI Future: Safe, Inclusive, High-Growth’.

The event was convened by the UKAI Women in AI Working Group and the National Council of Women of Great Britain (NCWGB), and chaired by Jess Asato MP, with remarks from UK Minister for AI and Online Safety Kanishka Narayan MP and support from Baroness Manzila Uddin.

SAIFCA Advisory Board members James Wilson and Claire Roberts were among the event’s principal speakers, each delivering substantive remarks from the top table, drawing on both their professional expertise and their work with SAIFCA. SAIFCA Director Tara Steele, Advisory Board Chair Michael Hobbs, and Advisory Board member Nkiru Asika also took part as invited attendees. Together, this marked SAIFCA’s largest in-person presence at a parliamentary event to date, reflecting the growing recognition of the importance of ensuring that children’s interests are represented in conversations about the future direction of AI.

Discussions covered a wide range of issues affecting women and girls as AI becomes more embedded in everyday life, including Safety by Design, regulation and accountability, AI-generated deepfakes and intimate imagery, and the representation of women within AI development and governance.

A strong theme throughout the discussion was the need to move further towards prevention: addressing foreseeable harms at the design and development stage, rather than relying primarily on action after harm has already occurred.

The roundtable also considered where progress has already been made in the UK, alongside areas where further action is still needed to ensure that innovation is accompanied by meaningful safeguards and accountability.

UKAI has said that insights from the event will inform the Women in AI Working Group’s AI Inclusion (BRIDGE) Framework, alongside a forthcoming report setting out practical recommendations for industry and policymakers.

For SAIFCA, it was encouraging to see children’s safety forming part of this broader discussion about how the UK approaches the opportunities and risks presented by AI.

We are grateful to UKAI, the National Council of Women of Great Britain and Claire Roberts for bringing together such a thoughtful discussion, and to the many speakers and participants who contributed their expertise.

This event follows SAIFCA's previous contributions in UK Parliament this year, including the roundtable on The Online Safety Act: Protecting the Digital Generation, with leading remarks from SAIFCA Director, Tara Steele, and the AI Chatbots and Violence Against Women and Girls roundtable, chaired by Baroness Boycott.