Profile

I live in Oxford with my partner Siobhan and our dog Frieda. I work as a researcher at the University of Oxford, mostly in the ethics of Artificial Intelligence. When I am not working, I like to play hockey and basketball, read, and go for hikes with my dog. My favourite football team is Crystal Palace, even though they never seem to win.

Collecting, storing, and using data has never been more important than today. Every time you use the internet, social media, buy something from a store, or even visit your GP, data about you is collected (sometimes without you even knowing). We can use this data to train computer algorithms, so that they can learn to see patterns where humans might not. For example, we might train an algorithm to learn what kind of music or TV you might like, based on your previous choices (this is how netflix and spotify work). We could also train an algorithm to spot early signs of cancer in a medical scan, potentially saving people’s lives.

My research is about how this data should be collected, and used. Who should have access to it, and for what purpose? Is it ok to collect people’s data without their permission, if we use it for good reasons?

My workday depends on the stage of a project I am on. Early in a project, my work is focused on background research; basically reading what has already been argued on a topic. When I’m in the writing stages, much of my day is used to draft/edit/redraft a paper. I also spend lots of time meeting with other researchers (e.g., computer scientists, clinicians) about their work, and presenting my work in seminars. I also do lectures/tutorials for university students 1-2 days each week.