18.06.2026

Rachel Coldicutt OBE discusses AI safety with SAINTS

Rachel Coldicutt OBE joined SAINTS for a roundtable discussion to explore current models of “AI safety” and examine how digital exclusion creates hidden harms.

Rachel is the founder and Executive Director of Careful Industries, a research consultancy exploring the social impacts of emerging technologies, and the founder of the Society for Hopeful Technologists. Previously, she was the founding CEO of Doteveryone, a think tank for responsible technology and digital social policy. She currently serves on the UK government’s Digital Inclusion Action Committee sub-committee and the National Data Library Expert Advisory Group.

Our conversation with Rachel highlighted several key themes:

• The Evolution of Public Attitudes: We revisited Rachel’s work spanning over 20 years regarding how the public perceives digital technology, noting how online personas once dismissed as trivial now hold profound importance in users’ lives.
• Evidence vs. Policy: We discussed the challenges of generating evidence to shape policy, the power of public engagement and “mini-publics” (as demonstrated by the AI in the Street project), and how political instability can derail progress on technology policy projects.
• The Limits of Regulation: We explored why anticipatory regulation may not be the ultimate answer for digital economies. Our audience provided excellent insights, drawing both parallels and contrasts to financial regulation.
• Human Resilience: The group highlighted the incredible resilience people show when navigating the impacts of digital technologies, which vary significantly by context, individual persona, and other socioeconomic factors.

Following the main event, we hosted a “Silver LAIning” session. Here, we explored Rachel’s personal career journey, public trust in technology regarding older adults, and her new project with the Society for Hopeful Technologists.

Rachel currently leads a new Lloyd’s Register Foundation Foresight Review focused on the safe adoption of AI in engineered systems. The review examines AI’s impact on worker safety, environmental sustainability, and infrastructure resilience.