A team of Rothamsted scientists met with Members of Parliament and Peers in Westminster last week to present their latest insights on artificial intelligence (AI) in farming as part of Evidence Week in Parliament.
Evidence Week is a unique annual event bringing together the public, parliamentarians and researchers from across the UK to discuss how evidence from frontline research can inform policymaking in Parliament.
The team presented their findings to, amongst others, Carol Monaghan MP, Caroline Nokes MP, Daniel Zeichner MP, Jo Gideon MP, Luke Pollard MP, Ruth Jones MP and Wendy Chamberlain MP, equipping them with vital information to inform the decisions they make on future policies for AI in agriculture.
Professor Chris Baker, who led the delegation said, “It was a great opportunity for us to interact directly with policymakers and present some of the latest innovations of AI in farming that we are optimizing. These technologies have the potential to revolutionise how we farm and help us deliver on commitments for a sustainable net zero farming system. I hope all the MPs we talked to gained some insight into this exciting and transformative new approach to agriculture.”
Other Rothamsted scientists attending were Dr Sam Cook, an integrated pest management specialist, geostatistics expert Professor Paul Harris who also manages the North Wyke Farm Platform, bio-informatician Arne De Klerk of Knetminer and our Head of Statistics and Data Science Andrew Mead.
Evidence Week, now in its sixth year, is run by the campaigning charity Sense about Science and the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST), in partnership with the House of Commons Library, House of Lords Library, Ipsos, the Office for Statistics Regulation and researcher institutions from across the UK. During the week, MPs meet with leading scientists to get the latest insights on pressing issues covering topics as varied as housing, food supplies, energy, health and inequality. It is an opportunity for the public, parliamentarians, and researchers to come together to share knowledge and insights. It empowers legislators to engage with evidence and equips them with the critical tools to handle uncertainty, identify bias and scrutinize underlying assumptions.
Tracey Brown, Director of Sense about Science, said, “From farming to urban traffic, the quality of research and evidence used affects whether policies and laws make sense. We are delighted that MPs have the opportunity to learn from Rothamsted Research about making better use of research evidence at Evidence Week in Parliament. Connections with cutting edge research are important for MPs, who have to pass laws, check up on government and understand the issues that are affecting their constituents.”
According to a representative survey of 1,078 adults in Great Britain by Ipsos and Sense about Science released this week for Evidence Week 2023, only a third or less of people think MPs are equipped to ask the Government the right questions about evidence on critical policy areas including the use of Artificial Intelligence (26% confident versus 60% not confident), energy policy (31% confident versus 60% not confident), healthcare (33% confident versus 59% not confident), the economy (34% confident versus 57% not confident) and climate change (30% confident versus 60% not confident).
Around half of Britons continue to think politicians pay too little attention to evidence (7% too much, 51% too little, 24% about right, 19% don’t know) or to public opinion (15% too much, 54% too little, 20% about right, 12% don’t know), while 1 in 3 think they pay too much attention to what they think is right (35% too much, 25% too little, 24% about right, 16% don’t know).
