I am a philosopher working on the ethics and epistemology of science, medicine and technology, based at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge. Before coming to Cambridge, I did a PhD at Durham University.
My current research focuses on ethical and epistemic issues that arise when AI systems are used to automate decision making. Many commentators have worried that such systems risk making biased or value-laden decisions in ways that are opaque or unexplainable to humans. My research seeks to analyse and explicate these complaints. I am interested in what kinds of “transparency” and “explainability” are relevant in this context and how these can help manage bias and value-ladenness in automated decision making.
Beyond AI, I also study the role different kinds of reasoning play in science (e.g. analogical, explanatory, diagnostic) and how different types of values can and should influence scientific inquiry. I am particularly interested in reasoning related to pursuit-worthiness, i.e., reasoning about which hypotheses or models to prioritise for further testing and development. Although I look at these questions across the sciences, I have particular interests in the philosophy of archaeology and medicine.
Publications:
(forthcoming). “Explainable Machine Learning, Patient Autonomy and Clincial Reasoning”, Oxford Handbook of Digital Ethics . Ed. C. Véliz. (w/ G. Keeling).
2022. “Explanatory Pragmatism: A Context-Sensitive Framework for Explainable AI”, Ethics and Information Technology 24:13 (w/ D. Robinson).
2022. “Digital Ageism: Challenges and Opportunities in Artificial Intelligence for Older Adults”, The Gerontologist. (w/ C. Chu et al.).
2022. “Artificial intelligence can discriminate on the basis of race and gender, and also age”, The Conversation, 18 January 2022. (w/ C. Chu, K. Leslie and S. Khan)
2021. “From General Principles to Procedural Values: Responsible Digital Health Meets Public Health Ethics”, Frontiers in Digital Health 3:690417.
2021. “Using AI Ethically to Tackle Covid-19”. British Medical Journal 2021;372:n364. (w/ S. Cave, J. Whittlestone, S. O hEigeartaigh and R. Calvo.)
2021. “Artificial intelligence in nursing: Priorities and opportunities from an international invitational think-tank of the Nursing and Artificial Intelligence Leadership Collaborative”, Journal of Advanced Nursing 77(9): 3707-3717. (w/ C. Ronquillo et al.)
2020. “Public Health and Risk Communication during COVID-19 – Enhancing Psychological Needs to Promote Sustainable Behaviour Change”, Frontiers in Public Health 8: 573397. (w/ T. Porat, R. Calvo, P. Paudyal and E. Ford).
2020: “Of Water Drops and Atomic Nuclei: Analogies and Pursuit Worthiness in Science”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 71(3): 881-903.
2020: “Strategies in Abduction: Generating and Selecting Diagnostic Hypotheses”, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 45(2): 159-179 (w/ D. Stanley).
2020: “Three Uses of Analogy: A Philosophical View of the Archaeologist’s Toolbox”, Interarchaeologia 6: Archaeology and Analogy. Ed. M. Marila, M. Ahola, K. Mannermaa and M. Lavento. Helsinki: Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki.
2020: “Why Value Judgements Should Not Be Automated”, written evidence submitted to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s AI and Public Standards review (w/ J. Whittlestone and S. Cave).
2019: Ethical and Societal Implications of Algorithms, Data, and Artificial Intelligence, London: Nuffield Foundation (w/ J. Whittlestone, A. Alexandrova, K. Dihal and S. Cave).
2019: “The Role and Limits of principles in AI Ethics: Towards a Focus on Tensions”, Proceedings of the 2019 AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Society (w/ J. Whittlestone, A. Alexandrova and S. Cave).
2019: “Motivations and Risks of Machine Ethics”, Proceedings of the IEEE 107(3): 562-574. (w/ S. Cave, K. Vold and A. Weller).
2018: “Samuel Schindler: Theoretical Virtues in Science”, BJPS Review of Books.
2015: “How Explanatory Reasoning Justifies Pursuit: A Peircean View of IBE”, Philosophy of Science 82(5): 749-760.
2011: Kompendium i Retsfilosofi, Frederiksberg: Kompendieforlaget (w/ T. Rosenbaum, E. Møller and A. Topsøe ).