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Over the coming weeks, there will be no shortage of analysis of the contents and priorities put forward by the UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence (IISPAI) Preliminary Report. Yet, the report leaves unresolved a prior and more fundamental question: the nature of its independence, or more accurately, how that independence is understood, secured and demonstrated. Independence is what gives the Panel its value. Without it, it is hard to distinguish the Panel from the many interest groups already vying for space in AI governance.

On Friday at AI Policy Lab @Umeå University we had a book club discussion on “The AI Paradox: How to Make Sense of a Complex Future” by Professor Virginia Dignum.

We explored the book’s eight AI paradoxes and reflected on what they mean for education, governance and society.

The award recognizes her long-standing contribution to responsible AI and her role in shaping ethical and societal perspectives on AI in the Nordic region and beyond.

On March 12, 2026, the AI Policy Lab at Umeå University team conducted the workshop “Question Zero: Beyond the ‘AI First’ Hype” during the Winter School on Ethical, Legal, and Societal (ELS) aspects of AI and AS at Umeå University. 

Just back from our yearly research retreat with AI Policy Lab @Umeå University, the Responsible AI group at Department of Computing Science and colleagues from different places.

Sennay Ghebreab delivered a keynote that grounded Question Zero in lived experience, reminding us that the decision to use, or not use AI is never a static checkpoint. He urged us to think in terms of Question Infinity ??: a continuous, reflective process in which risks and opportunities are held in tension rather than framed as opposites.

Close out AI Policy Lab Day with a special screening of the acclaimed independent documentary Humans in the Loop, a powerful portrait of a young data annotator navigating the rapidly shifting AI industry in India.

With significant public investment and political capital currently riding on AI, particularly generative AI, the socio-economic and political consequences of the hype bubble bursting will be profound.

Join us on Wednesday, November 19 for AI Policy Lab Day 2025 — an interactive afternoon showcasing the lab’s work on responsible AI and engaging participants in real, practical conversations. The event features highlights from the AIPL’s projects, a keynote on “Question Zero” in AI and a hands-on clinic where we invite your toughest AI policy questions.

On 27 August 2025, more than 100 participants joined the AI Policy Lab workshop Responsible AI Self-Assessment: Start with Question Zero at Umeå University and online. Together, we tested and debated the Responsible AI Self-Assessment Tool, designed to help organisations pause, reflect, and ask why before moving into AI adoption.

The network invites diverse stakeholders to share practical knowledge that supports ethical, transparent, and evidence-based practices for shaping inclusive and trustworthy AI policies. The session also encouraged global stakeholders to endorse the Roadmap for AI Policy Research.

The workshop brought together more than 50 stakeholders from the public and private sectors, as well as academia, to explore the relationship between barriers to AI adoption in public services and the skills and expertise required to overcome them.