Alice and Sparkle

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It combined this with housing and benefits data from Basildon council and crime data from Essex police. Where a child is already known to them, the social worker can use data analysis to consider the intervention most likely to be effective for that child, based on the child’s previous behaviour. This has focused on Vange, a part of Basildon where one in four children has been judged by the Ofsted inspectorate to be not school-ready. The two go on an adventure where they learn about both the potential benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence. The ICO has set up Project ExplAIn with the Alan Turing Institute, which specialises in data science, to open public discussions on how such data should be shared and used across both public and commercial sectors.

The debate has heated up even further with the announcement of Alice and Sparkle, created by design manager Ammaar Reshi. We were working with systems that aren’t naturally compatible with each other to collect information in different ways and in different timescales,” explains a spokesperson. In the Twitter thread where Reshi announced the book, the author also broke down the entire process behind creating the children’s book. Reports on its use in other countries have shown mixed results including potential unethical profiling of groups of people.They can then take steps – perhaps alerting the child’s school or health visitor – to prevent matters escalating. Independent social worker Steve Liddicott has advised Xantura on various projects, including Thurrock. This has then enabled the council to redirect intensive youth work support services to these areas and divert young people from crime or violence. This book was also co-created using AI tools to both aid in writing and illustration and is the first of its kind to do so. In his spare time, he loves learning about new technology, a consistent theme even as a young child.

She creates her own AI, named Sparkle, and together they go on adventures and use their combined knowledge to make the world a better place. In children’s services, a council may ask for analysis of specific risk factors which social workers would otherwise not know, such as a family getting behind on the rent, which can then be triangulated with other data such as school attendance. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates the act, says it recognises that machine learning can present “some of the biggest risks related to the use of personal data”.

With AI and machine learning tools used in its writing and illustration, Alice and Sparkle is said to be the first book of its kind to do so. It is important to emphasise that data analytics systems are only part of the process,” says the Thurrock spokesperson. He, too, emphasises that the analyses don’t tell the social workers what to do, but are merely another piece of the toolkit to aid decision-making. He explains that the analysis can help social workers see where a child not already on their radar might be at risk. Don't miss out on the sequin-filled adventure with Alice and Olivia, where you will find a sparkly cat, a sparkly hat, and even a sparkly dress.

Preliminary results from one of six councils being studied have shown that its predictions are “pretty accurate”, according to the centre’s executive director, Michael Sanders. Not only that, but the entire story’s plot also centres around the young protagonist creating her own AI companion. Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The creation of the book was meant to put a spotlight on the kind of storytelling that can be done with AI, and the plot of the book is about the good and bad that can be done with AI. They may do, but it’s also helpful to step back and look objectively at what the picture is for this child. Sanders believes it may in some cases, though he stresses the jury remains out, which would then trigger the further question of practitioners’ ability to understand the data without having a doctorate in statistics.

The Data Protection Act provides some legal safeguards on using personal data – one of which is that organisations must let people know how their details and profile are being used. Machine learning in social care still raises significant issues about how we want to engage with children and families,” she says. Its Axis project, launched in 2017 with support from the Office of Data Analytics and the police, analyses information from the police, social care, health, youth offending, schools, youth services, community groups and the public to identify high-risk geographical areas. The results were presented to the local community and a community-led commissioning group was set up, aiming to give parents, volunteers and teachers a chance to improve outcomes for children in the area.

What Works for Children’s Social Care, part of the network of government-funded What Works centres, is examining the effectiveness of predictive analysis in the sector. Most councils trialling predictive analysis are using commercial organisations to set up and run the analyses. Robot Buddy: Sparkle is a small, cute robot who Alice builds to learn more about artificial intelligence. On December 9, 2022, Reshi made a thread on Twitter about his experience publishing the book, which soon went viral.

She knows that artificial intelligence is powerful, and that it has the power to do good and evil depending on how it is used. One major thing that many people are concerned about is how these machine-learning tools are allowing certain individuals to make a quick buck. Computer systems enable councils to number-crunch vast amounts of data from a variety of sources, such as police records, housing benefit files, social services, education or – where it is made available – the NHS. Hillingdon council, in west London, has pioneered award-winning work in the use of predictive analytics to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable children and young people.