Technology has changed the way we live, work, learn and assess. In the past fifteen years, novel and more granular data coupled with increased processing power and the rise of algorithms has led to new and efficient ways to gain insights, identify patterns, and even create new content. Yet, in assessment, as in many other fields, human involvement remains as important as ever to ensure the validity of test results. In this session, we will consider the enormous opportunity for positive impact offered by data and AI, reflecting on the key role played by assessment practitioners. In particular, we will focus on the interaction between humans and machines in the running of assessment operations, and how it has evolved in recent times. Innovation in areas such as marking, item generation, test security, and psychometrics requires changes in the role of expert judgement and, more broadly, of human decision-making. But only through the appropriate level of transparency, outcomes monitoring and governance it will be possible to bridge the gap between progress and test users’ trust, whilst ensuring the efficient delivery of valid test results.