Manchester City Council: People’s Panel for AI: Building skills, confidence and residents’ voices

As Manchester City Council is exploring and developing their capabilities with AI, it is placing a strong emphasis on incorporating resident views into the development of AI-powered front-line services. To ensure fair and inclusive AI solutions, the Council has collaborated with Manchester Metropolitan University to establish the People’s Panel for AI. This panel will actively involve traditionally marginalised and disadvantaged communities, who are often digitally excluded, to provide essential perspectives on the design and implementation of AI-driven services.

Digital exclusion poses a significant challenge across the region. In Greater Manchester, an estimated 1.2 million residents are at risk of being digitally excluded, with 450,000 lacking internet access. To ensure meaningful participation in the People's Panel, the council has implemented targeted roadshows to enhance digital literacy among residents. By providing training and upskilling opportunities, the council aims to empower communities, particularly those most affected by digital exclusion, and foster a more digitally inclusive society.

The People’s Panel for AI is a key project within Manchester’s ambitious Digital Strategy, which seeks to leverage digital and technological advancements for the benefit of residents. This is balanced with ensuring that the population are skilled and confident to reap the benefits of improvements made, without furthering the impact of digital exclusion.

Manchester City Council has set an ambitious target: to establish the city as a world leading digital hub by 2026. To achieve this, the council has developed a comprehensive Digital Strategy that recognises the transformative potential of technology in addressing key challenges faced by the city and its residents.

A core principle of this strategy is maximising the impact of technology and innovation while actively incorporating the perspectives and knowledge of all residents. This emphasis on inclusivity underlines the need for the People’s Panel for AI, by incorporating the perspectives of residents in applications of AI.

However, digital exclusion presents a significant barrier to meaningful resident engagement, particularly within marginalised and disadvantaged communities. Recognising this challenge, the council's Digital Strategy prioritises digital inclusion. By investing in digital skills development programmes, such as the People’s Panel for AI, the council aims to ensure all residents have equal access to the benefits of new technologies and can actively participate in the digital transformation of Manchester.

The People’s Panel for AI fosters a valuable and mutually beneficial relationship between the council and residents. It will not only enable the incorporation of resident voices into the design of frontline services but also develop community understanding and awareness of AI technologies and how the council plans to utilise them.

The Digital Strategy Advisory Board helps to guide and achieve the ambitions and aims of the Digital Strategy, including the delivery of this project.

The first phase of the People's Panel for AI focused on building baseline knowledge of AI within the community. A core component of this phase involved a series of roadshows conducted by Manchester City Council in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University. These roadshows targeted traditionally marginalised and disadvantaged communities to educate residents about AI. Five roadshows took place between May and June 2024 in targeted locations across Manchester. They were held in community spaces and were free of charge to participants to remove various barriers to entry. Over 40 residents attended, representing a diverse group with ages ranging from 18 to 64+. The majority of participants identified as female, and 17 per cent disclosed living with an impairment, health condition, or learning difference. 

Each hour-long session was led by three researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University. The sessions began by establishing a foundation of knowledge, covering topics such as an introduction to AI, its applications, and its impact on everyday life. The focus then shifted to discussions on the ethical use of AI, encompassing a wide range of topics such as student use of AI in essays, the trustworthiness of automated decision-making in social care, the potential benefits of adopting a robot pet, and participants' confidence levels in allowing elderly relatives to use self-driving wheelchairs.

This provided residents with opportunities to enhance their skills, knowledge, and confidence regarding AI within a safe, open, and welcoming forum. Pre- and post-roadshow survey feedback revealed a significant improvement in residents' understanding of AI. Notably, awareness of AI's role in everyday life, trust in AI systems, and confidence in challenging automated decisions each increased by over 30 per cent on average. The impact of this increased knowledge and confidence is already evident, with over half of the attendees expressing interest in participation in the People’s Panel. 

The launch and initial stage of the People’s Panel for AI have yielded valuable learnings for the council, providing key considerations for the Panel's further development in 2025.

• Partnerships: Collaboration with academia (MMU), community organisations, and service providers (TfGM, Tech Enabled Care, Citizens Advice) ensured effective outreach and relevant informed training.
• Data-driven approach: Manchester City Council utilised the Digital Exclusion Risk Index (DERI) effectively to target outreach efforts towards communities and groups most in need.
• Trust-building is essential: Promoting roadshows in trusted community spaces, compensating panellists fairly, and addressing initial scepticism was key to the successful delivery of the roadshow events.
• Accessibility is paramount: Overcoming barriers like physical access, language, location, and finances through measures such as free transportation, translation services, and accessible venues was vital to ensure the council engaged with traditionally marginalised groups.

As Manchester seeks to leverage AI technology in service delivery, the council is prioritising the integration of resident voices and perspectives. The continued development of the People's Panel for AI serves as a crucial tool to challenge the priorities and perspectives of the technology industry. By actively involving residents in the pre-implementation phase, the council aims to shift towards a more challenge-driven approach to AI and technology, ensuring that the voices of service users are central to its development and deployment.

In 2025, Manchester City Council is exploring ways to expand the insights gained from the People’s Panel for AI. The focus is on empowering the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to leverage AI effectively in addressing socio-economic inequalities.

Furthermore, the technology sector has expressed keen interest in collaborating on future panels. These initiatives align with the council's overarching goal of fostering a thriving "technology-for-good" ecosystem within the city.

Internally, council teams are actively investigating how the valuable learnings derived from the People's Panel can be seamlessly integrated into existing policies and operational procedures.