How AI is being regulated: Professors Sandra Wachter and Brent Mittelstadt

To mark 25 years of the Oxford Internet Institute, this special episode of The Human Interface brings together alumni from across the decades to reflect on how their time in Oxford influenced their careers and thinking about technology and society. From the early days of dial-up internet to the rise of large language models, they share how their work continues to reflect the OII's interdisciplinary approach, and wish the OII a very happy 25th anniversary.

AI is reshaping every sector of the economy, but what does this mean for today’s workforce and the skills they need to bring into their careers? In this episode, we explore what actually matters in today’s job market: which AI skills matter, how to think about acquiring them, and where institutions and governments can lead the charge in shaping how AI fits into the future of work. Fabian Stephany, researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute and author of the forthcoming book SKILLED, argues that today's biggest labour market can be understood through the lens of skills. The gap between the skills people have and the ones they need play out in wages, employment, and economic mobility. Prateek Sibal, who specialises in digital transformation in the communication and information sector at UNESCO, shares what this looks like inside public institutions. Governments are under growing pressure to adopt AI, but civil servants need to understand governance, service design, and how to maintain public trust. Together, they examine what individuals, employers, and governments need to do to close the AI skills gap, and why getting this right matters for societies as much as for careers.

This episode of the OII's The Human Interface podcast examines what happens to consumers, businesses, and innovation when a handful of tech giants come to dominate the digital markets we all rely on every day, and how regulators are working to keep that power in check. Professor Greg Taylor, an economist specialising in digital markets and competition at the OII, is joined by Tania Van Den Brande, Senior Director of Digital Markets at the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. They discuss why digital markets are particularly prone to entrenched market power, what the CMA's new regulatory tools under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act mean in practice, and where the frontier of competition policy is heading next, from AI to global regulatory coordination.

This episode pulls back the curtain on the often-invisible human workforce powering AI, from content moderation to data labelling, and explores why global standards in AI supply chains must be enforced to protect worker safety. With new EU regulations like the AI Act on the horizon, the researchers share Fairwork’s response to readying companies to face this scrutiny: a research-backed audit and certification process designed to help organizations ethically build their AI.

This episode explores the evolving role of human oversight of AI systems in the workplace and beyond. With so much of our professional lives being permeated by AI-enabled tools, where do checks and balances come in, and what might they look like? The OII’s Dr Johann Laux is joined by two members of Accenture’s Responsible AI team, Ali Shah and Maxine Setiawan, to discuss the commercial and regulatory considerations around human management of AI systems, and how we ensure new iterations of this technology remain ethical and accountable.