Professor Pamela Ugwudike
Professor of Criminology and Pathway Leader, online master’s courses in Artificial Intelligence
Overview
Professor Ugwudike is a prominent figure in criminology and artificial intelligence ethics. Her scholarly work focuses on the ethical and governance issues surrounding AI technologies, primarily those deployed in justice systems around the world.
Pamela is a respected leader in multidisciplinary research on this topic and a co-Editor-in-Chief of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Journal which is the flagship Journal of the British Society of Criminology. She is also a member of the editorial boards of several other prestigious journals, including The British Journal of Criminology and Policing and Society.
Contact details
Email: p.ugwudike@soton.ac.uk
Research interests
- Exploring the moral implications and governance challenges associated with AI technologies in justice systems
- Developing frameworks and guidelines for to ensure that AI systems are fair, reliable, ethical, and accountable.
Career highlights
- Pamela is a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
- She serves on various advisory boards relating to AI governance, including the Independent Review on the Governance of Biometrics, convened by the Ada Lovelace Institute and led by Matthew Ryder KC, as well as the recently launched Scottish Policing Academic Centre of Excellence (SPACE).
- She currently serves as co-Editor-in-Chief of Criminology and Criminal Justice and is a member of the editorial boards of several other leading journals, including The British Journal of Criminology and Policing and Society.
- She has spearheaded multiple influential research projects, including the ESRC-funded ProTechThem2.0 project, which examined ethical concerns surrounding the disclosure of children’s data on social media platforms. The study explored key issues in AI governance, including the importance of transparent AI systems and the ways in which AI opacity can undermine online safety. She has also led projects on predictive policing algorithms (funded by the Alan Turing Institute) and on the digitisation of criminal justice practice evaluations (funded via an ESRC Impact Acceleration Award).
- She has been a featured speaker at numerous academic forums, including seminars at the London School of Economics, the University of Oxford, and University College London. In 2022, she delivered a keynote at the British Society of Criminology Conference, highlighting the importance of transcending disciplinary boundaries to address AI ethics within criminology.
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