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Kate Devlin

Professor Kate Devlin

Professor of Artificial Intelligence & Society

Pronouns

she/her

Biography

Kate is Professor of AI & 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 – and why – 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.

Kate is King's lead investigator on the UKRI's £31 million Repsonsible AI UK programme, which brings together researchers from across the UK to understand how we should shape the development of AI to benefit people, communities and society. She was Advocacy and Engagement Director for the UKRI-funded Trusted Autonomous Systems Hub, which ran from 2020-2024.

Kate is a board member of the Open Rights Group, a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms. In July 2022 she was made a patron of Humanists UK for her contribution to the greater public understanding of science. She represents Humanists UK in her role as a Commissioner for the international AI, Faith & Civil Society Commission. 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

Kate is not currently accepting new PhD students.

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 and outreach, 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, and made a number of TV appearances, TEDx talks, and appearances at numerous other tech and philosophy events, festivals, and comedy nights.

Selected Publications 

  • Kate Devlin. (2023). Power in AI: Inequality Within and Without the Algorithm. In M. Gallagher, & A. Vega Montiel (Eds.), The Handbook of Gender, Communication, and Women's Human Rights (pp. 123-139). (Global Handbooks in Media and Communications Research). WILEY-BLACKWELL.
  • Kate Devlin. (2021). while (alive) {love me;}. In A. Campbell (Ed.), The Love Makers (pp. 233-240). Goldsmiths Press.
  • Kate Devlin and Olivia Belton. (2020). The Measure of a Woman: Fembots, Fact and Fiction. In S. Cave, K. Dihal, & S. Dillon (Eds.), AI Narratives: A History of Imaginative Thinking about Intelligent Machines (pp. 358-382). Oxford Univerity Press; Oxford.
  • Kate Devlin (2018). Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots. Bloomsbury Publishing.

    Research

    datafutures
    Centre for Data Futures

    Bringing together interdisciplinary experts to focus on participatory infrastructure throughout the life of data-reliant tools.

    RAI UK
    Responsible AI UK

    An international ecosystem for responsible AI research and innovation

    Project status: Ongoing

    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

    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

    19Mar

    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.

    27May

    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

      datafutures
      Centre for Data Futures

      Bringing together interdisciplinary experts to focus on participatory infrastructure throughout the life of data-reliant tools.

      RAI UK
      Responsible AI UK

      An international ecosystem for responsible AI research and innovation

      Project status: Ongoing

      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

      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

      19Mar

      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.

      27May

      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.