Overview
Profile
I am Director of the at 麻豆传媒高清版 where I also lecture on the social implications of emerging technologies. I advise widely on policy in this area, especially biometrics. My most recent book (with Vian Bakir) is Feeling-into the Civic Body: Disinformation, Optimisation, Solutions (Springer 2022). Forthcoming this year is Automating Empathy: When Technologies Claim to Feel-Into Everyday Life (OUP 2023).
Research interest keywords
Advertising, artificial intellifence, biometrics, emotional AI, empathy (automated), philosophy, politics
Administrative responsibilities:
- Director of the Emotional AI Lab
- Director of Impact and Engagement
- Senate member
Additional Contact Information
Name: Andrew McStay
Position: Professor of Technology & Society
Email: mcstay@bangor.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1248 382740
听
Teaching and Supervision
Current teaching:
AI Ethics (Year 2/3)
Privacy and the Media (Year 2/3)听
Digital Advertising (Year 2/3)
Introduction to Media, Journalism & Politics (Year 1)
PhD students:
- Qi Qi.听Citizen Journalism and Political Polarisation
- Yiyang Zhao, Social Media and China's Networked Political Communication
- Xin Zhao,听China-related economic responsibilities: Understanding China鈥檚 soft power projection through a critical discourse analysis of its transnational media institutions
- Dyfrig Jones,听Convergence and Public Service Broadcasting in the UK, Ireland, and North America听
- Dita Legowo,听Blurring Intimacy and Distance: An Online Webseries听
- Aliah Nur Mansor,听Marketing and Online Fan Communities听
Postgraduate Project Opportunities
Proposals for PhD-level projects in the areas of emotions and technology, digital advertising, digital media, science and techbnology studies, data ethics and听privacy all welcome.
Publications
2024
- Published
McStay, A., Andres, F., Bakir, V., Bland, B., Laffer, A., Li, P. & Shimo, S., 28 Aug 2024, IEEE.
Research output: Other contribution 鈥� peer-review - Published
Bakir, V., Laffer, A., McStay, A., Miranda, D. & Urquhart, L., 7 Jun 2024, In: Frontiers in Sociology. 9, 1339834.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 27 Jul 2024, In: Ethics and Information Technology. 26, 48.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
2023
- Published
McStay, A., 22 Nov 2023, Oxford: OUP.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A. & Bakir, V., 14 Nov 2023, Handbook of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence. Edward Elgar, p. 656-669
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter 鈥� peer-review - E-pub ahead of print
Bakir, V., Laffer, A. & McStay, A., 12 Aug 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: AI & Society.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
Bakir, V., Laffer, A. & McStay, A., 3 Jul 2023, In: Surveillance and Society. 21, 2
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 17 Jan 2023, Palgrave Macmillan. 280 p.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book - Published
McStay, A., Nov 2023, In: AI and Ethics. 3, 4, p. 1433-1445 13 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 25 Oct 2023, In: Philosophy & Technology. 36, 4 p., 72.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 2 Mar 2023, In: Philosophy & Technology. 36, 1, 26 p., 13.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
2022
- Published
McStay, A., 2022, Education Data Futures. 5RightsFoundation
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A. & Urquhart, L., Sept 2022, In: International Review of Law, Computers & Technology. 36, 3, p. 470-493 24 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 12 Oct 2022, 7 p. UK Parliament.
Research output: Other contribution
2021
- Published
McStay, A., Dec 2021, In: Philosophy & Technology. 34, 4, p. 1781-1802
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A. & Rosner, G., 15 Mar 2021, In: Big Data and Society. 8, 1, 16 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
2020
- Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 21 Jan 2020, UK Parliament, (APPG on Electoral Campaigning Transparency).
Research output: Working paper - Published
McStay, A., 2020, In: Big Data and Society. 7, 1, 12 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A. & Bakir, V., 3 Sept 2020, Affective Politics of Digital Media: Propaganda by Other Means. Boler, M. & Davis, E. (eds.). Routledge, p. 263-279
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter 鈥� peer-review
2019
- Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 1 Dec 2019, UK Parliament.
Research output: Working paper - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 2019, UK Parliament, (DCMS).
Research output: Working paper - Published
McStay, A., 6 Nov 2019, In: Learning, Media and Technology. 45, 3, p. 270-283
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A. & Urquhart, L., 7 Oct 2019, In: First Monday. 24, 10
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
2018
- Published
McStay, A., 9 Jun 2018, SAGE Publications Ltd. 248 p.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book 鈥� peer-review - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 2018, In: Digital Journalism. 6, 2, p. 154-175
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 18 Mar 2018, The Advertising Handbook. Hardy, J., Powell, H. & Macrury, I. (eds.). 4th ed. Routledge, p. 88-101
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 22 Mar 2018, 9 p. London : UK Parliament.
Research output: Other contribution
2017
- Published
McStay, A., 31 Jul 2017, In: Conscious Cities Journal. 3
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 1 May 2017, 3 p.
Research output: Other contribution - Published
Bakir, V., Feilzer, M. & McStay, A., 15 Mar 2017, In: Big Data and Society. 4, 1, p. 1-5
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 10 Apr 2017, Commercial communication in the digital age 鈥� information or disinformation? . Siegert, G., Rimscha, M. B. & Grubenmann, S. (eds.). Mouton de Gruyter, p. 143-159 (Age of Access? Grundfragen der Informationsgesellschaft).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 6 Apr 2017, 1 ed. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. 224 p.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book 鈥� peer-review - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 1 Jun 2017, Political Studies Association.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Other report
2016
- Published
McStay, A., 14 Oct 2016, 2nd, revised ed. Palgrave. 221 p.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 23 Nov 2016, In: Big Data and Society. 3, 2, p. 1-11 11 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 10 Nov 2016, Explorations in Critical Studies of Advertising. Hamilton, J., Bodle, R. & Korin, E. (eds.). New York: Routledge, p. 235 247 p. (Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter 鈥� peer-review
2015
- Published
McStay, A., 6 Jan 2015.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 1 Dec 2015, In: Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics. 12, 3/4, p. 25-38
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 2015, In: Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics. 12, 3/4, p. 25-38
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 22 Jun 2015.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 18 Jun 2015.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper - Published
McStay, A., 10 Sept 2015.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 4 Jul 2015.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper - Published
McStay, A., 24 May 2015.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper - Published
Bakir, V. & McStay, A., Nov 2015, 23 p.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Other report - Published
McStay, A., 24 Feb 2015.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper
2014
- Published
McStay, A., 14 Jun 2014, Peter Lang.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book
2013
- Published
McStay, A., 17 May 2013, Routledge.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book - Published
Bakir, V., McStay, A. & Feilzer, M. Y., 1 Nov 2013.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper
2012
- Published
McStay, A., 30 Sept 2012, In: New media and society.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
Long, P., Wall, T., Bakir, V. & McStay, A., 26 Jul 2012, Pearson Education.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book
2011
- Published
McStay, A., 1 Jan 2011, In: Surveillance and Society. 8, 3, p. 310-322
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review - Published
McStay, A., 1 Jan 2011, Continuum.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book
2010
- Published
McStay, A., 1 Jan 2010, In: Qualitative Report. 15, 1, p. 37-58
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
2009
- Published
McStay, A., 1 Jan 2009, Palgrave.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book
Activities
2023
Invited to Belfast for a DSIT closed event to advise on Metaverse technology, ethical implications and what constitutes good governance.
Invited due to 2 published papers on the Metaverse (one on governance and the other synthetic personalities)
2023 鈫�
Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)Call to discuss effectiveness and methods with a generative AI company working in film and entertainment. They sought me out as a result of Emotional AI book and wider work. I will be advising their work in this are and asked to review their systems for ethical harm.
2023 鈫�
Links:
Online call with Plaid Cymru and Welsh Gov' about harms of generative AI and what can be done. Hosted by M-Sparc: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7077260946762526721/
2023
Links:
2023
Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)
2022
False information proliferates online, despite years of multi-stakeholder efforts to quell it. In September 2022, Vian Bakir (Prof. of Journalism & PolComms, SHiLSS) and Andrew McStay (Prof. of Digital Life, SHiLSS) were invited by the UK Parliament鈥檚 Online Harms and Disinformation Sub-Committee to provide evidence to their Inquiry into Misinformation and Trusted Voices. They addressed one of the Inquiry鈥檚 questions: namely: Is the provision of authoritative information responsive enough to meet the challenge of misinformation that is spread on social media? Now published, one of their conclusions is that rather than having to make difficult content moderation decisions about what is true and false on the fly and at scale, it may be better to ensure that digital platforms鈥� algorithms optimise emotions for social good rather than just for the platform and its advertisers鈥� profit. What this social good optimisation would look like is worthy of further study, but they posit that this would likely involve dialling down the platform鈥檚 emotional contagion, and engagement, of users.
14 Sep 2022 鈥� 14 Oct 2022
Links:
In collaboration with North Wales Police (NWP), this project will identify and explore with police, civic and public stakeholders the benefits, challenges and ethical concerns raised through the police use of new computational technologies in policing, notably those involving claims to detect and predict criminality through risk-modelling and those based on Intelligent Facial Recognition.
Funding awarded through the 麻豆传媒高清版 Innovation and Impact Award (Research Wales Innovation Funding). Value = 拢44,239
1 Apr 2022 鈥� 31 Mar 2023
Activity: Other (Contributor)With funding and separate collaboration from from Welsh Government, I am leading on a project to research develop AI Ethics recommendations for Welsh industry/public sector.
2022 鈫�
Activity: Types of Business and Community - Membership of public/government advisory/policy group or panel (Contributor)I am a member of the Advisory Board of PATH-AI: Mapping an Intercultural Path to Privacy, Agency and Trust in Human-AI Ecosystems. This project is a collaboration between The Alan Turing Institute and the University of Edinburgh in the UK, and RIKEN in Japan, running from January 2020 until December 2022.
2022 鈫�
Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Contributor)Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office Technology Advisory Panel (TAP).
2022 鈫�
Activity: Membership of board (Chair)Talk for Serbia tech industry on data ethics and emotional AI.
Abstract: This talk will consider changing governance of AI. Now with hitherto unseen attention from policymakers, emotion recognition is high on legal and data protection agendas. To explore contemporary progression from values to governance, McStay will provide historical context to the technologies, insight on societal attitudes, progressing to highlight key legal changes, ethical weaknesses, and remedies.
2022
Links:
Co-hosted by Department for Media, Culture & Sport (UK Government), Queens University (Belfast), and Manchester University Metropolitan.
2022
Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)Membership of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Metaverse Interoperability Group
2022 鈫�
Links:
2021
Engagement/advising industry based on research published in Emotional AI and multiple papers.
Nov 2021
Activity: Types of Business and Community - Membership of public/government advisory/policy group or panel (Contributor)Advising DCMS (Department of Culture Media and Sport) in post-Brexit data policy, esp. regarding biometrics and facial recognition
Nov 2021
Activity: Types of Business and Community - Membership of public/government advisory/policy group or panel (Contributor)Roundtable on problems and realising the benefits of processing children鈥檚 education data (led by Baroness Kidron). I advised on biometrics in education and schools.
Oct 2021
Activity: Types of Business and Community - Membership of public/government advisory/policy group or panel (Contributor)Ada Lovelace/RCA workshop on responsible and ethical AI. Decided nature of next round of AHRC AI funding.
Jun 2021
Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Speaker)14 May 2021
Links:
Book launch and panel discussion
23 Apr 2021 鈥� 28 Apr 2021
Links:
40 page Interim Report on progress on Innovate UK research project and insights for Cufflink to feed into design of their app. (In kind consultancy)
21 Jan 2021
Activity: Consultancy (Consultant)I advise on AI ethics, esp. face recognition technologies
2021 鈥� 2022
Activity: Types of Business and Community - Membership of public/government advisory/policy group or panel (Contributor)
2020
Invited written submission (Aug 2020) to the Victoria Parliament (Australia) Electoral Matters Committee鈥檚 Inquiry into the Impact of Social Media on Elections and Electoral Administration. Informed the Inquiry's Final Report's findings and recommendations (Sep 2021).
24 Aug 2020 鈥� 20 Sep 2021
Links:
keynote
9 Jul 2020 鈥� 10 Jul 2020
Links:
Evidence and recommendations published in the report, Digital Technology and the Resurrection of Trust, published by the House of Lords Select Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies.
To prevent further harm, our evidence recommends greater transparency of digital campaigns, better media literacy for voters, and self-reflection by political campaigners on things like the informativeness and civility of their own campaign.
Building on such evidence, the House of Lords鈥� report makes an urgent case for reform of electoral law as well as our overwhelming need to become a digitally literate society.
29 Jun 2020
Links:
Briefing Paper for All Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Campaigning Transparency.
20 Apr 2020
Activity: Other (Contributor)Briefing Paper for All Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Campaigning Transparency.
10 Apr 2020
Activity: Other (Contributor)
2019
Funded by Economic & Social Research Council - Arts & Humanities Research Council - UK-Japan Social Sciences & Humanities Connections grant
1 Nov 2019
Links:
Multi-Stakeholder (government, NGO, company, regulator), multi-disciplinary (media, journalism, law, criminology, Ai ethics, robotics, big data) workshop to discuss UK-Japan elements of emotional AI
9 Sep 2019
Links:
Based on our synthesis of research from academia, investigative journalism and regulatory and political inquiries, we find:
- Extensive use of deception and emotion in campaigning for the 2016 鈥楤rexit鈥� referendum.
- Techniques for targeting citizens with emotive and deceptive information have intensified in terms of granularity of targeting; and remain hidden from the view of the wider community or nation.
- False messages prompt reactions of fear, disgust and surprise, and have a propensity towards recirculation online.
To address this, we recommend:
- That there be incentives for digital political campaigners to act ethically, and for their behaviour to be critically and regularly reflected upon by society.
- Specifically, we recommend the institution of publicly available self-evaluations by all political campaign groups post-elections to: Summarise which audiences were targeted, and with what success; Reflect upon which aspects of the campaign most succeeded in mobilising voters (e.g. specific adverts, messages, themes, memes); Reflect upon whether the campaign gave voters enough information with which to make an informed choice on which to base their electoral decision (i.e. was information true, complete, undistorted and relevant?); Reflect upon to what extent the campaign was civil.
- We further recommend that this self-reporting be incentivised via: An independent panel (of diverse stakeholders, including fact-checkers, academics, and campaigners from opposing sides) to verify, and critically comment upon, the self-evaluations; A kite-mark system to brand the veracity and civility of the campaigning; Ensuring that this is covered by the media, post-election, and that the analysis is available online in a public archive.
2 Aug 2019
Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)The UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee launched the Reality TV inquiry in May 2019 following events leading up to the decision to axe The Jeremy Kyle Show. It is considering the duty of care offered by broadcasters and programme makers to participants of reality TV shows.听
The Network for Media & Persuasive Communication submitted written evidence focusing on DCMS' question:听What is the future for reality TV of this kind? How does it听accord with our understanding of, and evolving attitudes to, mental health?
The submission听offers听a cautionary note on a likely future of听reality听media -听where听the media industry听makes use of data听about emotions听to听add new layers of engagement听through听鈥渆motional AI鈥�.听This听emotional AI听entails听affective computing and AI techniques听that听read and react to emotions through text, voice, computer vision and biometric sensing.听While听usage of听emotional AI听has scope to enhance experience of media,听there is scope听for abuse听when competing for audience attention, engagement听and advertising revenue.
The submission recommends that:
- Regulators and policymakers are suitably aware of media and technological trends described in this document: namely,听the potential dangers of a media environment in which emotion is quantified and utilised by the media industry.
-听Media companies and home technology providers understand that regulators and policymakers are aware of these developments and are willing听to regulate if听there is听misuse,or听if听individual, collective or technological vulnerabilities (such as lack of awareness of 鈥渃onsent鈥� to domestic profiling)听are exploited.
-听There听is听further engagement with academics and other specialists on these questions.
1 Jun 2019 鈥� 1 Sep 2019
Links:
The study ( Disinformation and propaganda 鈥� impact on the functioning of the rule of law in the EU and its Member States) was commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizen's Rights and Constitutional Affairs. It assesses the impact of disinformation and strategic political propaganda disseminated through social media sites.
The report references McStay and Bakir's work several times, and discusses it in the text, citing the definition of fake news proposed by McStay and Bakir in 2018.
28 Feb 2019
Activity: Other (Contributor)
2018
Invited to a conference on Regulating Digital Campaigning: What is to be Done? in Portcullis House, Lodnon. The conference programme has been devised in collaboration with the Cabinet Office, Electoral Commission, and Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office, and the conference is hosted by the DCMS Select Committee.
29 Nov 2018
Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Public lecture/debate/seminar (Participant)Grant reviewer.
16 Nov 2018
Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Reviewer)Invited to co-produce a white paper to shape the European Commission鈥檚 (EC) research agenda on the Internet's Impact on Echo Chambers, Fake News and Populism. This will assist the EC to define a future work programme of research within the H2020 framework and FP9. hTrough regular consultation across 2018, this generated a report on sociotechnical implications of the Internet related to the impact of closed communities and misinformation and makes recommendations to address specific challenges.
Edited by Steve Taylor, Brian Pickering, Paul Grace, Michael Boniface -University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre, UK
1 Feb 2018 鈥� 25 Oct 2018
Links:
2017
Invited Speaker: House of Commons, London. Fake News & Digital Advertising. Branded Content Network (AHRC-funded). (Public Talk 鈥� approx. 30 people)
We presented on the fake news phenomenon as part of an invited panel.
It received media coverage from trade press.
25 Apr 2017
Links:
3 x 3000 words reports - Bakir and McStay (MPC), and Bakir et al
1 report for MECCSA
1 blog for PSA Political Insight
2 talks to COmmsCymru
1 Apr 2017 鈥� 29 Nov 2017
Links:
Gillian Jein hosted the round table discussion which launched the interactive, generative exhibition, Veillance. The roundtable included project team members. Artist Ronan Devlin, Academics Prof. Vian Bakir and Prof. Andy McStay, Technician Carwyn Edwards.
24 Feb 2017
Links:
Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)Generative Exhibition - White Box, Pontio
24 Feb 2017 鈥� 12 Mar 2017
Links:
2016
Membership of AHRC peer review college
18 Nov 2016
Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Membership of peer review panel or committee (Member)
Projects
-
01/11/2023 鈥� 15/05/2025 (Active)
-
01/02/2022 鈥� 01/08/2022 (Finished)
-
01/07/2020 鈥� 01/08/2022 (Finished)
-
01/01/2020 鈥� 31/10/2024 (Finished)
-
01/07/2019 鈥� 14/12/2020 (Finished)
-
10/01/2019 鈥� 25/06/2020 (Finished)
-
01/09/2015 鈥� 21/09/2017 (Finished)
Other Information
Consultancy: Inter-governmental, Government and Industry
- McStay, A. (2022-23) UK ICO鈥檚 Technology Advisory Panel member (biometrics)
- McStay, A. & Urquhart, l. (2022) UK ICO Technology and Innovation Foresight on future of transport (invited contribution).
- McStay, A. & Urquhart, l. (2022) UK ICO Technology and Innovation Foresight on biometrics (invited contribution).
- McStay, A. & Rosner, G. (2022) Welsh Government Digital Ethics Report Applying digital ethics to government and public services.
- McStay, A., Rosner, G., Miyashita, H. and Urquhart, l. (2020) for UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
- Bakir, V. and McStay, A. (2020) Inquiry into the Impact of Social Media on Elections & Electoral Administration, , Parliament of Victoria, Australia.
- McStay听cited/discussed in听UNICEF听(2020)听(input from听McStay听on Emotional AI)听
- Bakir, V., &听McStay, A. 2020.听Inquiry into the Impact of Social Media on Elections & Electoral Administration, Electoral Matters Committee, Parliament of Victoria (Australia)听听
- McStay, A. and Rosner, G. (2020) Emotional AI and children: ethics, parents, governance ().
- (House of Lords Select Committee on Democracy & Digital Technologies, 2019).
- (All-Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Campaigning Transparency, 2019).
-
Centre for data ethics and innovation (2020) (interview input from mcstay)
-
(DCMS parliamentary inquiry into reality media, 2019)
- (UK Government, Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, 2019)
- 2019 UK Government Center for Data Ethics and Innovation (advisor on facial recognition technology) 听
- 2019 Royal United Services Institute (UK Gov鈥� policing/defense think tank), workshop on shaping the state of machine learning algorithms within law enforcement 听
- 2019 Advising UK Government, Open Innovation Group, on online targeting 听
- 2019 Nexus Studio in AI ethics installation at London鈥檚 Barbican art centre 听
- 2019 Advertising Standards Authority, advisor on biometrics. 听
- 2019 CognitionX expert advisor
- 2018 Report on The Right To Privacy In The Age Of Emotional AI (for The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights)
- 2018 Invited participant: United Nations expert workshop on right to privacy in the digital age.
- 2018 Invited witness at UK Parliament, DCMS Committee's oral evidence session on Fake News.
- 2018 Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers Working Group voting member (P7000 on ethical design and P70002 on data privacy).
- 2018 Expert input on Re-Work AI white paper on Ethical Implications of AI.
- 2017 Report on Written Submissions On How To Combat Fake News (UK Parliament fake news inquiry).
- 2017 Report: And then there鈥檚 Emotional AI (For House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
- 2017 Report: Fake News: Media Economics & Emotional Button-Pushing (UK Parliament fake news inquiry).
- 2017 House of Parliament presentation on development of fake news and branded content.
- 2016 Open Rights Group, academic advisor on data protection.
- 2016-2018 Advisory Board Member for听Sensing Feeling (a retail consortia project exploring Emotional AI).
- 2015 UK Government, Office for Science, 鈥楿nderstanding Influence鈥� workshop/1000 word report.
- 2015 Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office, advisor and member of the Policy Delivery department.
- 2015 Committee of Advertising Practice, advisor on ethics of emotion-sensitive technology.
- 2015 Internet Advertising Bureau (Europe), advisor on ethics in digital advertising.
- 2015 By invitation, Expert Discussion on Adblocking, European Parliament, Brussels.
- 2014-2015 Drive Productions (developing wearable technology for experiential marketing events).
- 2014-2016 Voting Kantara Working Group member on developing digital consent receipts.
Consultancy: Academic
- 2018: co-production of white paper to shape European Commission鈥檚 (EC) research agenda on the internet's impact on echo chambers, fake news and populism (H2020 framework and FP9).听
- 2017-current: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) reviewer
- 2016-current: Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Peer College member
- 2017-current: External Examiner, Goldsmiths (Univ. of London), MA Advertising & Promotional Culture
- 2016-2017: MSA (Egypt)/Univ. of Bedfordshire, BA Mass Comms, Advertising & PR
- 2014-current: External Examiner: Falmouth University, BA Creative Advertising
- 2012-2015: External Examiner: Middlesex Univ., MSc Media Management
- 2013-current: International Assessor: Research Foundation Flanders.
Reviewing:
Journals: New Media & Society (Editor), Big Data & Society (Guest Editor), Theory, Culture & Society, Digital Journalism, International Journal of Communication, Journal of Cultural Economy, Telematics and Informatics, Social Science Computer Review, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers Communications, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI).
Subject Associations: Association of Internet Researchers, International Association for Media and Communication Research.
Book publishers: Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Emerald, Continuum, Routledge, Sage and Palgrave MacMillan.
Funders: AHRC (panel member), ESRC,听EPSRC (as privacy expert),听Research Foundation Flanders.
听
Invited presentations/keynotes:
Empathic Technologies: Landscape, Ethics, Citizens(2020) , New York.
Empathic Technologies: Mediated emotion during COVID-19 (and after)(2020)A Global Digital Publics Network (GDPN) event in collaboration with the 听the network for , and the Fame and Persona Research Consortium.
Regulating Disinformation in Context of Modulated Emotion(2020) Sussex Centre for Information Governance Research.
A Principled Approach to the Emotion Economy (With Pamela Pavliscak)听(2020) SxSW, Austin, USA.
Emotional AI and empathic technologies: RIGHTS, CHILDREN AND DOMESTICATION (2020 Panlel organisiser/moderator听, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.
The Rise of Empathic Technologies (2019)听EURA Center of Excellence Regulation of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Pisa, Italy.
Ethics fatigue? Emotional AI, citizen perspectives & implications for MarTech (2019)听Social & Emotion AI for Industry (held in conjunction with the 听International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction)
Emotional AI, ethics and workplace automation (2019) CIPD: Festival of Work, Haymarket Media, London.听
Challenges of the (post)digital age (izazovi (post)digitalnog doba) (2019), Belgrade, Serbia.听
Spilling into the city: AI and advertising (2019/forthcoming) Goldsmiths, University of London.
Emotiveillance: Smart Advertising, Retail and the Privacy Problem听(2019) Liverpool Screen School, LMJU, UK.
Intimacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence听(2018) Grounded Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Emotional AI: Nature, Form, Ethics,Governance (2018) Pratt Institute, New York.
AI and Creative Practice听(2018) Bond University, Queensland, Australia.
Intimacy and the Civic Body: Emotional AI and the City (2018)听Information Law and Policy Centre, London.
All Smiles? Emotional AI, Ethics, Industry Views & Citizen Perspectives (2018), Re-Work summit on Machine Learning, AI & Digital Assistants, San Francisco, USA.
Understanding the Significance of Emotional AI and Empathic Media (2018), New Lines of (In)Sight, CRISP, University of Stirling.
Emotional AI: Ethics, Citizens and Ubiquitous Feeling-Into (2017), Re-Work global summiton AI & Digital Assistants, London, UK.
Fake News & Digital Advertising(2017), House of Commons, UK Parliament, London.
Some Context to Branded Content & Advertising听(2017). Theorising Branded Content, Univ. of East London.
Empathic Media: The Case of Advertising (2017), CPDP, Brussels.
Some Context to Branded Content and Advertising (2017), keynote, Theorising Branded Content, University of East London.
Empathic Media and Advertising (2016), keynote, The Future of Advertising, University of the Arts, LCC.
Researching Empathic Media: Corporate Access, Methods and Ethics (2016), University of Sheffield.
Empathic Media: In the Workplace (2016), Society for Computers and Law, 11KBW.
McStay, A. (2016) Empathic Media: The Case of Gaming, Stanford University.
McStay, A. and Bakir, V. (2016) Veillant Media: 鈥榁eillant Panoptic Assemblage鈥� and 鈥楨motiveillance, University of Toronto.
McStay, A. (2016)听Empathic Media project Intimacy, consent and tracking emotions in public,听Digital Catapult, London UK.
Bakir, V. & McStay (2015). Forced Transparency or Equivellant Transparency, post-Snowden (or who is challenging the state鈥檚 surveillance agenda of radical transparency? Media, Agenda Building, National Security and Forced Transparency. For DATA-PSST! ESRC Seminar series. Brunel University, 8 July 2015.
Bakir, V. & A.McStay. (2015). Invited speakers: Debating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements: Privacy, Security, Surveillance, Trust (DATA-PSST!): evaluating perspectives on surveillance in the post-Snowden leak era. Surveillance and Citizenship State-Media-Citizen Relations After the Snowden Leaks. Cardiff University, UK. ESRC-sponsored. 18-19 June 2015.
What of Consent in an Age of Empathic Media (2015) Meaningful Consent workshop, University of Southampton.
Privacy as Affective Protocol (2015) DATAPSST!, University of Sheffield.
Towards an Understanding of Emotional Analytics (2014)听Marketing Communications Society, University of Greenwich, London
Exploring the Pharmacology of Empathic Media (2014) Centre for the 麻豆传媒高清版 of Science and Imagination,听University of Westminster, London.
Sensational creativity in advertising听(2014) Media and Culture Research Seminars, Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham City University.
Redefining the Object of Critique: Creative Advertising as an Event听(2013) International Communication Association (ICA), London,
Rethinking Advertising: From Being to Becoming听(2012) For Your Eyes Only: Privacy, Empowerment and Technology in the Context of Social Networks, Brussels, Belguim.
I Consent: Search, Privacy, Behavioural Advertising and the Cookie Directive听(2012)听Leuven Arenberg Doctoral School Training Programme, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Exploring the Cultural Contours of Digital Advertising听(2010) The Media Studies Conference, British Film Institute (BFI), London.
Towards an autopoietic conception of behavioural advertising audiences听(2010) Media, Culture and Journalism Research Seminars, University of Glamorgan.
Exploring Audiences in Web 2.0听(2008) Media Research: New Issues, Perspectives and Methods, Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham City University.
Funding
2020 Innovate UK. 鈥�Taking Back Control of Our Personal Data: An ethical impact assessment of personal data storage apps;鈥� (PI)
2020 UKRI-Japan Science & Technology Joint Call on AI & Society 鈥楨motional AI in Cities: Cross Cultural Lessons from UK & Japan on Designing for An Ethical Life鈥� (PI).
2019:EPSRC/HDI+ Rights of Childhood: Affective Computing and Data Protection鈥櫶�(PI)
2018 ESRC-AHRC UK-Japan SSH Connections听'Emotional AI: Comparative Considerations for UK and Japan across Commercial, Political and Security Sectors' (PI)
2018: ESRC 鈥楨motional AI: Developing Ethics, Standards and Governance鈥� (PI)
2016: The Space (Veillance), Awards from听The Space + Arts Council Wales (CI)
2015: Arts and Humanities Research Council听(AHRC)鈥�,听'Empathic Media: Theory-Building and Knowledge-Exchange with Industry, Regulators and NGOs' (PI)
2014: ESRC Research Seminar Competition, 'DATA - PSST! Debating and Assessing Transparency Arrangements - Privacy, Security, Surveillance, Trust' (CI)
2014: Strategic Insight Programme (SIP), 鈥楢dvertising in Wales鈥� (PI)
Fellowships
2019: William Evans Fellowship, University of Otago in New Zealand.
Artwork
-听听听听听听听听(2019): Academic advisor & co-producer, McStay. Lead artist,Ronan Devlin. Based on McStay鈥檚 emotional AI work, this is been shown in Leeds, Salford, Lancaster and London (Canary Wharf). Approx. 100,000 in-person views.
-听听听听听听听听(2017): Team McStay, Ronan Devlin (lead artist), Vian Bakir (academic), Ant Dickinson (sound), Carwyn Edwards (software), Michael Fl眉ckiger (graphics) and Gillian Jein (academic).
Media appearances and public engagement:
-
Interviews: MIT tech Review, Buzzfeed, Scientific American, The Sun, New York Post, The Guardian, The Register, ABC Radio (Australia), Studio City for RTV Slovenija, Canal+ (France), BBC Futures (USA), BBC Radio 4, BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide to discuss technology. Writing for industry outlets includes: Information Week, Information Age, WPP, ESOMAR, Privacy & Business Law and The Conversation. Documentary appearances: 鈥楧rawing the Line鈥� (Sensum) on emotional AI, 鈥楶olitical Economy of Media鈥� (Sage), and 鈥楢dvertising鈥� (Lambert Productions).
-
Journalism: I write for The Conversation on matters involving advertising, technology and privacy. All articles available . I have have also written听for听Sparksheet/WPP, an advertising industry publication.听See
- Salon: invited discussion member at听Privacy, Protection, Publicity:听Does your Freedom have Boundaries? Dialogue,听Shoreditch, London.
Teaching awards:
- Learning & Teaching Award (2008) from HEFCE/TQEF recognising excellence in teaching and learning support.
- Learning & Teaching Award (2007) from HEFCE/TQEF recognising excellence in teaching and learning support.
Memberships:
Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers; International Communication Association; Media, Communications & Cultural Studies Association; Association of Internet Researchers; International Association for Media & Communication Research; Authors鈥� Licensing & Collecting Society; Personal Data Trust Network (Digital Catapult).
Blog
Various lapsed blogs can be found online, but I'm active on Twitter .