Al data experiment helping miscarriage research

Dame Wendy Hall, SoU professor of computer science, likened data trusts to putting money in banks

An island's "world first" AI data experiment is now being used to help women who have suffered a miscarriage.

Digital Jersey set up its first opt-in data trust in 2024, LifeCycle, which collected cyclists information to monitor riders and their reactions on the roads.

The organisation is now working with the University of Southampton (UoS) to launch another data trust to help improve treatment for women who experience pregnancy loss.

Dame Wendy Hall, SoU professor of computer science, likened data trusts to putting money in banks so it could be looked after, gain interest and used to help others.

She said: "If we are going to use artificial intelligence well in the future we need to think about what control we have over our own data and how AI could be applied to that for the good of society.

"We want to apply AI to all patients who have a disease and use AI to decipher what drugs fit with what patients, the side effects and how better to personalise prescriptions and treatments."

Improve treatments

Ms Hall said professors at UoS hope to use the data trust to look at what drugs work for women who have miscarried.

They will also asses the side effects of drugs, how they can improve personalisation of prescriptions and treatments, and conduct further research around prevention.

Digital Jersey's cycling data trust, which was launched last year, monitored a rider's environment up to 800 times per second, collecting and analysing data about their journey and riding conditions.

This included detecting events such as braking, swerving, collisions, and road surface conditions, all of which were mapped onto their routes.

Ms Hall said Jersey was the perfect place to launch AI data trusts because it has "very useable laws".

"They are softer than the the UK laws, easier to apply and Jersey lawyers are used to dealing with trust law," she said.

Digital Jersey's chiefs believe their AI data trusts are a world first.