Kerry McInerney Keynote Speaker

Senior Research Fellow, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge
AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker
Co-Host, The Good Robot Podcast

Kerry McInerney's Biography

Dr Kerry McInerney is a Senior Research Fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI) at the University of Cambridge. She is also an AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker and a Research Fellow at the AI Now Institute, a leading AI policy thinktank in New York.

As an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker, Kerry regularly appears on radio and in international media to provide expert comment on AI trends, from AI beauty pageants to the rise of AI in the workplace. Through radio and podcasting, she breaks down complex political topics for wide audiences in an informative and engaging way.

Her cutting-edge research has been covered by the BBC, The Guardian, Forbes, The Telegraph, and other international outlets. She was selected as one of 2022’s 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics 2022 and one of Computing’s Rising Stars 30 in 2023.

Kerry has given numerous keynotes and worked with companies and NGOs to address how AI can create and exacerbate gender and racial inequality. She is a leading voice on feminism in the tech industry, co-hosting The Good Robot Podcast on feminism and technology and co-editing two books: Feminist AI and The Good Robot: Why Technology Needs Feminism.

Kerry also founded and co-chairs The Global Politics of AI research stream on how AI is impacting international relations, shedding light on the complex geopolitics of AI.

Why Technology Needs Feminism

How can we make sure that AI works for everyone? In this talk, Kerry shows how feminism can diagnose ethical problems in the tech industry, and help us imagine different, better tech futures.

Overpromising and Underdelivering? Cutting through the AI Hype

We’re caught between extreme excitement about the leaps forward in AI technologies, and so-called ‘AI doomers’ worried about AI causing the end of the world. Kerry shows why we need to thread the needle between utopia and dystopia when it comes to AI and develop a healthy scepticism towards AI hype.

Who Makes AI, and Why Does It Matter?

Women make up approximately 22% of AI and data professionals worldwide. How does this impact both gender inequality and global tech innovation? Kerry shows why representation in the AI industry matters, and why we need different stories about AI to the ones that we currently tell.

The Geopolitics of AI

From bans on chip exports to the so-called ‘AI arms race’ between the US and China, AI is an increasingly important factor in contemporary geopolitics. Drawing on original research, Kerry explores how AI is reshaping power on the international stage.