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Dr Kate Devlin

Reader in Artificial Intelligence & Society

Biography

Dr Kate Devlin is a Reader in Artificial Intelligence & Society in the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London. With an undergraduate degree in archaeology (QUB) and an MSc (QUB) and PhD (Bristol) in computer science, her research investigates how people interact with and react to technologies, both past and future. Kate is the author of the critically acclaimed Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots (Bloomsbury, 2018), which examines the ethical and social implications of technology and intimacy.

In 2016 she ran the UK’s first sex tech hackathon. Kate is Advocacy and Engagement Director for the UKRI-funded Trusted Autonomous Systems Hub – a collaborative platform to enable the development of socially beneficial robotics and artificial intelligence systems that are both trustworthy in principle and trusted in practice.

Kate is a board member of the Open Rights Group, a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms, and is a campaigner for gender equality to improve opportunities for women in tech. As a science communicator, she provides accessible accounts of robotics and AI in both broadcast and print media.

Research interests and PhD supervision

  • Intimacy and technology
  • Power and bias in artificial intelligence
  • Human-computer and human-robot interaction
  • Digital cultural heritage

Selected publications 

  • Kate Devlin. “Power in AI: inequality within and without the algorithm” in M. Gallagher and A.V. Montiel (eds.) Handbook on Gender, Communication and Women’s Human Rights, Wiley-Blackwell. [In press.]
  • Kate Devlin. while (alive) {love me;} in A. Campbell (author, ed.) The Love Makers, Goldsmiths Press/The MIT Press, November 2021. ISBN: 9781912685844 
  • Kate Devlin and Olivia Belton. “The Measure of a Woman: Fembots, Fact and Fiction” in S. Cave, K. Dihal and S. Dillon (eds.) AI Narratives: A History of Imaginative Thinking about Intelligent Machines, Oxford University Press, April 2020, pp. 357-381. ISBN: 9780198846666 
  • Kate Devlin, Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots, 304 pages, Bloomsbury, October 2018, 304 pages. ISBN: 9781472950871 

Teaching

  • Programming for non-STEM students
  • AI and its impact on society human-computer interaction.

Expertise and public engagement

Kate has a strong track record of public engagement, including frequent participation as an expert voice in the media. She has written for a wide range of mainstream publications, has been featured on BBC Radios 1–5, guested on many podcasts (including an episode of NPR's Hidden Brain dedicated to her work) and made a number of TV appearances, TEDx talks, and numerous other tech and philosophy events, festivals, and comedy nights. 

    Research

    Digital Intimacies logo
    Digital Intimacies

    Digital Intimacies examines how gay & bisexual men negotiate their cultures of intimacy, away from hook-up applications and on to ‘intermedial’ smartphone use.

    Project status: Ongoing

    RAI UK
    Responsible AI UK

    A multidisciplinary network of researchers, industry, policy makers, and organisations, working to ensure AI development is carried out with due responsibility.

    Project status: Ongoing

    News

    Science Gallery London announces 'Friday Lates' as part of autumn AI programme

    Dive further into the world of AI with performances, special events, a new exhibit and two opportunities for 'after hours' access

    Elsewhere-2

    Arts & Humanities 2023 Institute Fellows announced

    The inaugural Institute Fellows have been selected to pursue cross-disciplinary work within the new Digital Futures Institute or Global Cultures Institute.

    GCIDFI Blend

    'Inspirational, informative and thought-provoking': King's Festival of Artificial Intelligence

    King’s opened its doors to the public to explore the latest AI developments at this five-day festival.

    AI Festival AI Panel Auditorium 2

    King's awarded £5m UKRI funding for AI research

    King’s have been awarded £5m in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of a £31m investment across universities to develop trustworthy and...

    AI main image

    Material Minds? The rise of Chat GPT and AI

    With the rise of language-learning models such as Chat GPT and discussions around AI almost keeping pace with the technology itself, King's hosted a workshop...

    Material Minds1

    International Women's Day 2023: Transforming technology for gender equality

    In recognition of the United Nation’s 2023 International Women’s Day theme celebrating innovation and technology for gender equality, we shine a light on some...

    IWD 23

    Events

    19Mar780 KES AI

    King's Experts Series: the Ethics of AI

    The King’s Experts Series is a series of events exclusively for King’s alumni, this webinar will touch on some of the latest research on digital technology...

    Please note: this event has passed.

    27MayARTICLE Heart Skyline

    How deep (learning) is your love?

    Kate Devlin explores human-AI relationships and the implications for our future interactions with technology.

    Please note: this event has passed.

      Research

      Digital Intimacies logo
      Digital Intimacies

      Digital Intimacies examines how gay & bisexual men negotiate their cultures of intimacy, away from hook-up applications and on to ‘intermedial’ smartphone use.

      Project status: Ongoing

      RAI UK
      Responsible AI UK

      A multidisciplinary network of researchers, industry, policy makers, and organisations, working to ensure AI development is carried out with due responsibility.

      Project status: Ongoing

      News

      Science Gallery London announces 'Friday Lates' as part of autumn AI programme

      Dive further into the world of AI with performances, special events, a new exhibit and two opportunities for 'after hours' access

      Elsewhere-2

      Arts & Humanities 2023 Institute Fellows announced

      The inaugural Institute Fellows have been selected to pursue cross-disciplinary work within the new Digital Futures Institute or Global Cultures Institute.

      GCIDFI Blend

      'Inspirational, informative and thought-provoking': King's Festival of Artificial Intelligence

      King’s opened its doors to the public to explore the latest AI developments at this five-day festival.

      AI Festival AI Panel Auditorium 2

      King's awarded £5m UKRI funding for AI research

      King’s have been awarded £5m in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of a £31m investment across universities to develop trustworthy and...

      AI main image

      Material Minds? The rise of Chat GPT and AI

      With the rise of language-learning models such as Chat GPT and discussions around AI almost keeping pace with the technology itself, King's hosted a workshop...

      Material Minds1

      International Women's Day 2023: Transforming technology for gender equality

      In recognition of the United Nation’s 2023 International Women’s Day theme celebrating innovation and technology for gender equality, we shine a light on some...

      IWD 23

      Events

      19Mar780 KES AI

      King's Experts Series: the Ethics of AI

      The King’s Experts Series is a series of events exclusively for King’s alumni, this webinar will touch on some of the latest research on digital technology...

      Please note: this event has passed.

      27MayARTICLE Heart Skyline

      How deep (learning) is your love?

      Kate Devlin explores human-AI relationships and the implications for our future interactions with technology.

      Please note: this event has passed.