Michael Wooldridge is the Ashall Professor of the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford. An award-winning expert in his field, Michael has been educating both current innovators and future generations on the impact of artificial intelligence for over two decades.
Before joining Oxford, Michael was a Professor at the University of Liverpool for 12 years. In 2012, he became a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, before serving as the Head of the Department of Computer Science from 2014 until 2021. He has held a number of presidential positions for a multitude of associations, including the International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, the European Association for AI, and, most recently, the International Joint Conference on AI. He is also a fellow of several organisations, such as Hertford College, the European Association for AI, the AAAI, and the ACM, and is a member of Academia Europaea. In 2023, Michael was appointed as a Specialist Advisor to the House of Lords inquiry on Large Language Models and Generative AI, and he currently serves as the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Artificial Intelligence journal, the leading international academic journal for AI.
As a result of his esteemed career, he has won various awards, grants, and fellowships. He won the ACM Autonomous Agents Research Award from the Association for Computing Machinery, the Lovelace Medal from the BCS, the Patrick Henry Winston Outstanding Educator Award from AAAI, and the European Association for AI Distinguished Service Award. In 2011, he was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant from the EU, Europe's most competitive research fellowship, as well as a 5-year Turing AI World Leading Researcher Fellowship from UKRI, and most recently, he received an AI 2050 Senior Fellowship from the Schmidt Sciences Foundation. Michael is the author of over 450 scientific articles and nine books, including ‘AI: the Ladybird Expert Guide to AI’, ‘The Road to Conscious Machines’, and ‘A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence’.
A knowledgeable and experienced speaker, Michael’s clarity and confidence in covering AI, its past and its future, make for an unforgettable experience. Having delivered frequent public lectures at some of the UK’s most prominent events, including high-profile literary festivals such as Hay Festival, Cheltenham Literary Festival, and Stratford Literary Festival, Michael connects with a wide variety of audiences, from the academic mind to the practical thinker, making him the perfect addition to a multitude of events.
Books
Artificial Intelligence: Everything you need to know about the coming AI
A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going
The Road to Conscious Machines: The Story of AI
Michael Wooldridge's official speaking topics are listed below:
- Recent Progress in AI: Why Did It Happen and Where Is It Going?
- Is Artificial General Intelligence Coming?
- The Story of AI: From Boom to Bust to Boom
- The AI Regulation Landscape
- Risks From AI: What Should We Be Afraid Of and Why?
- Siri, Let Me Introduce Alexa: The Connected Future of AI
- Agent-Based Modelling Comes of Age
- 2025 - Interviewed by The Guardian
- 2024 – Awarded an AI 2050 Senior Fellowship, Schmidt Sciences Foundation
- 2024 - Appointed Ashall Professor of the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Hertford College2023 – Received the Distinguished Service Award from EurAI
- 2023 – Appointed Specialist Advisor to the House of Lords inquiry on Large Language Models and Generative AI
- 2023 – Delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, broadcast on BBC television
- 2021 - Published 'A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going'
- 2021 – Awarded a five-year Turing AI World Leading Researcher Fellowship from UK Research and Innovation
- 2021 – Received the Patrick Henry Winston Outstanding Educator Award from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
- 2020 – Awarded the Lovelace Medal from the BCS
- 2020 – Published 'The Road to Conscious Machines'
- 2018 – Published 'The Ladybird Expert Guide to AI'
- 2015 – Elected Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery
- 2015–2017 – Served as President of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence
- 2015 – Elected Member of Academia Europaea
- 2014–2021 – Head of Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
- 2014–2016 – President of EurAI
- 2012 – Professor of Computer Science, University of Oxford
- 2011 – Awarded an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council
- 2008 – Elected Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
- 2007 – President of the International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
- 2007 – Elected Fellow of EurAI
- 2006 – Received the ACM Autonomous Agents Research Award from the Association for Computing Machinery
- 2000 - Professor, University of Liverpool
How to hire Michael Wooldridge
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