AI Summit 2026: What our experts said

The public will see improvements in healthcare, transport and council services thanks to artificial intelligence, according to experts at LJMU.

Changes are already being felt but greater transformations rely on funding, public-private collaboration and whether the public trusts AI or not, - that’s the message from LJMU delegates attending the Liverpool City Region AI Summit on October 27.

Presenters included three scientists on LCR’s AI Task Force – a UK’s first body driving AI integration in the regions – Professor Ivan Olier, Dr Henry Forsyth and Dr Wasiq Khan, from the university’s School of Computer Science and Mathematics. A fourth member Dr Christian Matthews represents the School of Engineering and Built Environment.

The Liverpool City Region AI Task Force is a new expert advisory group that will inform, shape and drive the future use and development of artificial intelligence across the region.

Opportunities

Dr Forsyth, LJMU lead on AI, said the Task Force was an exciting opportunity to bring together academics, government and business to make AI a force for good.

“This is a brilliant platform to map out the innovations and big projects to make real differences in public services and infrastructure.

“The city has big challenges in education, in health, in public services and I think AI gives us new opportunities to move these forward.”

Dr Khan, whose research looks at how we can build public trust in digital technologies, agreed that we are at an exciting moment in time where we can make real inroads into long-standing problems in the public sector.

Professor Sandra Ortega Martorell (above), who co-presented at the summit with collaborators from the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Wirral, and works on models to predict disease, said: “We are seeing real impacts and efficiencies with AI applications in hospitals and the public can expect to see more examples of this in the coming months and years.”

Misgivings

But Dr Forsyth also warned about creating a two-tier society: “We have to be careful with AI that we don’t leave people and organisations behind but instead work to upskill people and familiarise them with AI and other digital technologies.”

Professor Ivan Olier (pictured above), who is Head of the LJMU AI and Digital Technologies Research Institute, joined a panel at the Summit with Alder Hey, CGI and other big players to discuss AI and healthcare.