Jess Bergs
R&D Engineering Lead
Human-AI Interaction @ UK AISI, Research Unit
Hi, there!
I lead engineering & product strategy at the UK AI Security Institute for our human-in-the-loop research tools, enabling our scientists to run their empirical research experiments at scale.
At the moment I am working on how to design effective scalable human oversight mechanisms.
My career so far has been in R&D and public sector innovation, from EU Horizon projects to Explainable AI at BBC R&D and since 2024 technical AI safety in the British government.
I'm mentoring at BlueDot Impact's Technical AI Safety Project programme and the SPAR and Pivotal research fellowships.
I'm a proud generalist and love bringing people together through events & conferences I (co-)organise. Outside work, I design and playtest board games!
Selected Work
Lateral Workshop 2026 – Expert Invitee
Ran one-to-ones and small-group sessions on career pathways into the field for experienced professionals from policy and comms backgrounds during a three-day workshop in Berkeley.
Auditing Games for Debate: Can Models Learn Human Spot-Checking Patterns?
Mentoring a Fall 2026 AI safety research project through the SPAR (Supervised Program for Alignment Research) fellowship by Kairos, studying whether models can learn the patterns behind human spot-checks used for AI oversight.
AI and the Future of Work – Study
UK AISI pilot study measuring AI-driven productivity gains across workplace tasks. The study with 500 participants found 25% higher quality and 61% faster completion with AI assistance.
AI Advice-Giving – Study
UK AISI longitudinal controlled study examining how people follow AI advice. Found 75% of participants followed GPT-4o advice on personal matters, though with no sustained well-being improvements.
AI and Political Knowledge – PNAS Nexus
UK AISI survey (n = 2,499) and randomised trials (n = 2,858) around the 2024 UK election. 13% of eligible voters used AI chatbots for political information, and chatbots raised political knowledge as effectively as internet search.
BlueDot Technical AI Safety Project – Mentor & Facilitator
Since March 2026 I've been working with BlueDot Impact on guiding technical talent through regular cohorts to a first impactful contribution to AI safety. Standout projects received further support for submissions to workshops at conferences such as ICML.
Successif Women in AI Safety Retreat
Invitee at a three-day residential retreat at Pendley Manor for 35 women with established careers in technical AI safety, AI governance and organisational leadership.
Public Design Conference 2025
Co-organised the inaugural global public design conference bringing together government designers worldwide. Part of World Design Congress, in collaboration with Royal College of Art and Greater London Authority.
AISI HAI @ Services Week 2025
Presented AISI's research tools at Services Week 2025, the UK government's annual event bringing together public sector professionals to share knowledge on service design and digital innovation.
AISI HAI @ CHI 2025 STAIG Panel
Panel speaker at the CHI 2025 workshop on Sociotechnical AI Governance: Opportunities and Challenges for HCI. Hybrid event held in Yokohama, Japan discussing AI governance from HCI perspectives.
AISI EurIPS 2025 Social
Organised the UK AI Security Institute's social event during EurIPS 2025 in Copenhagen, bringing together roughly 50 attendees from the AI safety research community to discuss frontier AI risks and technical solutions.
Making AI More Understandable
BBC R&D project researching Explainable AI to make AI decision-making transparent and interpretable. Prototyped ML-powered proofs-of-concept including generative ML art and interactive visualizations.
BBC Together
A trial of a social watching and listening experience from BBC R&D. Multi-user iPlayer viewer enabling synchronized viewing experiences. Ran on BBC Taster for 1.5 years.
BBC Tech Meetup
Co-organised the BBC Tech Meetup, facilitating knowledge sharing on latest technologies and development practices.
Trent Basin Community Information Model
Experience design for data visualisation project of building energy data for Trent Basin re-development project while at IES Ltd.
EU HORIZON – ENTRUST
EU H2020 R&D project during my time at IES Ltd on improving energy efficiency for the built environment and researching social factors in energy citizenship. Led requirements analysis and UX development. Research findings published on energy citizenship and community engagement in sustainable energy transitions.
Lab² – A collaborative cross-reality game for virtual team building
Master's Thesis project. A collaborative cross-reality game for virtual team building. Award 'Best Research Poster' at iLRN Conference
Master's Portfolio
Portfolio showcasing three major projects from my M.Sc. in Visualisation: Serious Games Development at Glasgow School of Art. Features Lab² (cross-reality collaboration), GoMA (RT3D heritage visualisation) and Spartathlon (Serious Game using Fitbit).
TEDxStuttgart
Co-organised regular TEDx event series showcasing innovative ideas in technology, education and design from and for the city of Stuttgart and the land Baden-Württemberg. Events: Act. Change. Now., Post-X, Collaborate For Humanity, Re:Think – Re:Invent – Re:Create.