Logo

Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Digital Media Inclusion

The CDT AI in Digital Media Inclusion is an 8 year PHD programme jointly run by Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI at University of Surrey and StoryFutures at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Creating Intelligent Media Services for All through a challenge-led PhD research training programme, co-designed with stakeholders and industry to shape real-world digital media inclusion. A transformative Doctoral Training programme in Artificial Intelligence designed with inclusion for all at its heart.

Digital media inclusion is essential for equality across society

The UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Digital Media Inclusion combines the world-leading expertise of the Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI (PAI) at the University of Surrey, a pioneer in AI technologies for the creative industries (vision, audio, language, machine learning) and StoryFutures at Royal Holloway University of London, leader in creative production and audience experience (arts, psychology, user research, creative production).

The CDT is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of the government’s strategy to ensure the country has the top global expertise and fosters the next generation of researchers needed to seize the transformational benefits of AI technology.

Our vision is to deliver unique cross-disciplinary training embedded in real-world challenges and creative practice, and to address the industry need for people with responsible AI, inclusive design and creative skills.

We believe that AI can enable intelligent media which adapts to individual needs to reduce barriers to inclusion (preference, neuro-divergence, age, language, sensory or physical abilities). Our CDT in AI for Digital Media Inclusion is doing just that!

What makes our training programme unique?

The CDT will train a new generation of over 80 industry-ready PhDs to lead the transformation to responsible AI-enabled inclusive media. This will forge a ground-breaking challenge-led model, co-designed and co-delivered with creative industry and end-user partners to remove significant real-world barriers to media inclusion.

Working in multi-disciplinary cohort teams, we aim to develop comprehensive multi-faceted AI solutions combining creative, technical, behavioural, linguistic, social and legal expertise, designed with inclusion for all at their heart.

Our challenge-led research and industry partnerships

Join us! We are looking for partners with a passion for making our future digital media more inclusive; to be part of a drive to change how we approach and design media to realise the impact on society and the UK economy.

Partnerships are key to the CDT’s mission of changing the dial on digital media inclusion and accessibility. The CDT believes that the time for one-size-fits-all media has passed. We are collaborating with a range of partners from the creative and technology industries to explore how AI can increase engagement with diverse audiences to help achieve greater societal equality.

Together we are taking a new challenge-led approach to tackling real-world inclusion problems, to ensure that future media is truly inclusive for all audiences.

This includes: addressing front-end design, using personalisation to adapt to different accessibility needs; applying multi-modal AI where one sense can be used to enhance another (voice to text, scene descriptors etc); addressing stigmatised narratives; and much more.

Our CDT Pilot Partners

We have been working with a pilot group of partners in designing this new way forward. These include IBM, Channel 4, Nexus Studios, Anagram, Synamedia, Final Pixel and English Heritage.