Yesterday was my last day of employment at The University of Bath. I have taught Robotics and Autonomous Systems for four years, 12 Semesters.  It’s been a great experience, especially the contact with students in lectures, labs and tutorials. But now it is time to move on. The workload is relentless and gruelling. The last two years have been particularly hard with the adjustments due to covid, and the increasing workload related to student wellbeing and pastoral care. I am certainly no worse off than any other member of academic staff, and in fact better off than many. However it is personally unsustainable and I now believe my time can be used more productively elsewhere.

I’m excited to continue my role as Director AI for Global Digital Foundation, in particular developing the AI Assurance Club. We’ll be charting the progress of AI policy and regulation as it develops, building a community of those engaged in the AI value-chain and wider ecosystem, and looking for areas where we can create useful contributions to reduce risk and improve the success of AI deployments. Since our launch in May, we’ve had considerable interest and attendance has been good at our London and Berlin launch events. Our membership is growing and we are encouraged by the quality of participation and engagement. It’s great to have a new focus and a little more time for family life too.