Our Story: Shaping responsible AI practices for all

I’m Dr Mehreen Ashraf. I founded the Responsible AI Collective because of I had a question no one seemed to answer: Shouldn’t all AI be Responsible AI? And so, my pivot into AI ethics wasn’t sparked by hype, but by discomfort. As I observed the growing adoption of AI systems in workplaces, I saw how decisions were increasingly delegated to opaque technologies. This was often without sufficient reflection on whose values were being embedded, who benefited, and who was left out. I began asking not just what AI can do, but what kind of world it helps produce.

The Responsible AI Collective was born from these questions. We challenge the notion that responsible AI is the ‘ending note’, an afterthought or a checkbox. Responsible for us means collaboration across disciplines, roles and lived experiences at the very outset. It means slowing down to think critically, and building the organisational capacity to act ethically, with care and accountability. This isn’t work that belongs only to developers or data scientists — it’s everyone’s business. As AI reshapes the world of work, governance, education, and public life, we need more people — not fewer — engaging in its design and use. That’s why this Collective exists: to help organisations think clearly, act responsibly, and keep human values at the heart of AI innovation.