Exploring Artificial Intelligence in the Street: Working with Leith Walk

This project is motivated by the question “What does Artificial Intelligence mean for the person on the street?”

Through a 6-month scoping project, we’re aiming to understand the connections and tensions between how people make sense of AI in daily life and how it is conceived by those actors who usually wield power, for example, big tech companies, organisations that decide on policy and governance, and local and national government. Our research is set against a backdrop of continued public controversies tied to AI and ongoing efforts to define more ethical and responsible practices in the tech sector.

Why Leith Walk?
Leith Walk – situated in the heart of Edinburgh – stands as a vibrant hub with multicultural communities, thriving businesses, cultural hotspots, and long-time residents committed to their neighbourhoods.

We’ve chosen to centre our research here to capture this vibrancy and to see how and where AI is finding a place in the street and playing a role for local residents and businesses. We’re committed to engaging with the communities that make up the area to surface different and unexpected views of AI. We want to learn how AI should work in response to local individual, public and civic needs. We see Leith Walk providing a snapshot, helping us to inform a responsible approach to AI for Edinburgh and across Scotland.