Kate Devlin

Professor Kate Devlin is Chair-Director of the Digital Futures Institute and holds a professorship in Artificial Intelligence & Society at King’s College London’s Department of Digital Humanities. She leads interdisciplinary research on technology’s societal impacts, with a focus on ethics, digital rights, and public engagement. Her roles include advocacy for responsible AI through UKRI initiatives and board memberships with the Open Rights Group and Humanists UK.

Education: BA Archaeology (Queen’s University Belfast), MSc Computer Science (Queen’s University Belfast), PhD Computer Science (University of Bristol), and a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Management (Goldsmiths).

Research interests center on human-technology interactions, AI ethics, and the societal implications of emerging technologies. Recent work includes explorations of AI in literature, robot ethics, and gender in tech. Her 2018 book Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots critically examines AI’s role in intimacy. She actively communicates science through media appearances, podcasts, and public lectures.

Notable awards include the 2023 Inaugural Institute Fellowship and Humanists UK Patron status (2022). Her grants include £5m UKRI funding for AI research and leadership in the Trusted Autonomous Systems Hub (2020–2024). She advises on AI’s cultural and spiritual impacts and co-leads projects like Digital Intimacies and Responsible AI UK.

Labs/Teams: Co-director of the Centre for Data Futures, part of the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Collaborates across disciplines, integrating humanities and STEM perspectives to address ethical tech challenges.