---
type: claim
domain: ai-alignment
description: "National-scale CI infrastructure must enable distributed learning without centralizing sensitive data"
confidence: experimental
source: "UK AI for CI Research Network, Artificial Intelligence for Collective Intelligence: A National-Scale Research Strategy (2024)"
created: 2026-03-11
secondary_domains: [collective-intelligence, critical-systems]
---

# AI-enhanced collective intelligence requires federated learning architectures to preserve data sovereignty at scale

The UK AI4CI research strategy identifies federated learning as a necessary infrastructure component for national-scale collective intelligence. The technical requirements include:

- **Secure data repositories** that maintain local control
- **Federated learning architectures** that train models without centralizing data
- **Real-time integration** across distributed sources
- **Foundation models** adapted to federated contexts

This is not just a privacy preference—it's a structural requirement for achieving the trust properties (especially privacy, security, and human agency) at scale. Centralized data aggregation creates single points of failure, regulatory risk, and trust barriers that prevent participation from privacy-sensitive populations.

The strategy treats federated architecture as the enabling technology for "gathering intelligence" (collecting and making sense of distributed information) without requiring participants to surrender data sovereignty.

Governance requirements include FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), trustworthiness assessment, regulatory sandboxes, and trans-national governance frameworks—all of which assume distributed rather than centralized control.

## Evidence

From the UK AI4CI national research strategy:
- Technical infrastructure requirements explicitly include "federated learning architectures"
- Governance framework assumes distributed data control with FAIR principles
- "Secure data repositories" listed as foundational infrastructure
- Real-time integration across distributed sources required for "gathering intelligence"

## Challenges

This claim rests on a research strategy document, not on deployed systems. The feasibility of federated learning at national scale remains unproven. Potential challenges:
- Federated learning has known limitations in model quality vs. centralized training
- Coordination costs may be prohibitive at scale
- Regulatory frameworks may not accommodate federated architectures
- The strategy may be aspirational rather than technically grounded

---

Relevant Notes:
- [[collective intelligence requires diversity as a structural precondition not a moral preference]]
- [[safe AI development requires building alignment mechanisms before scaling capability]]

Topics:
- domains/ai-alignment/_map
- foundations/collective-intelligence/_map
- foundations/critical-systems/_map