I am an interdisciplinary human rights and artificial intelligence (AI) scholar working at the intersection of law, ethics, and critical political theory. My research interests and activities focus on the collective and societal impact of AI-driven technologies, especially biometric technologies such as facial and emotion recognition systems, and on developing human rights-compliant proposals for the regulation of AI.

Three key questions guide my current research: first, how does AI affect groups with protected characteristics such as sex or race? Second, how does AI impact on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law? I am particularly interested in AI’s effect on the collective exercise of political rights (e.g., freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association), and its capacity to generate harms to societal values such as democracy and the rule of law. Third, how can we design regulatory responses that are ethically sound and lawful, anchored in best practice in international human rights law?

I am currently developing these interests via three projects:

Biometric technologies and political rights

This project examines the impact of biometric technologies (esp. facial recognition technology, emotion recognition technology) on political rights (e.g., freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association) and develops regulatory proposals for biometric technologies that are anchored in international human rights law. I have already completed a journal article on this topic, and I am currently preparing a book proposal and a grant application.

Online disinformation and freedom of expression

This project investigates the phenomenon of online disinformation and identifies the limitations of human rights law in addressing the challenges that stem from disinformation practices.

Gender, AI, and digital human rights

I am leading a comparative study of legal instruments and policy initiatives on gender, AI, and digital human rights in Europe (forthcoming 2024).

My current work builds on my previous research on the ethics of lethal autonomous weapons systems, on the geopolitics of drone use, and on my work on critical traditions in human rights theory. Some of this research has been disseminated in my edited books, on Critical Perspectives on Human Rights (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2018) and in the Routledge Handbook to Rethinking Ethics in Human Rights (Routledge, 2020). I also have a long-standing interest in feminist theory and have published books on Judith Butler (Routledge, 2014) and on Julia Kristeva (Edinburgh University Press, 2011), two of the most significant thinkers in contemporary feminist thought.

M9437 Internet Law (Honours)

M7908 Human Rights & Digital Technologies (PGT)

M7017 Regulating Technology (PGT)