Kay Firth-Butterfield is a lawyer, professor, and author specializing in the intersection of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

, Business and

AI ethics The ethics of artificial intelligence covers a broad range of topics within AI that are considered to have particular ethical stakes. This includes algorithmic biases, fairness, automated decision-making, accountability, privacy, and regulation. ...

. She is the CEO of the Centre for Trustworthy Technology which is a Member of the World Economic Forum's Forth Industrial Revolution Network. Before starting her new position Kay was the head of AI and

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

at the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

. She was an adjunct professor of law at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. In 2024, she was appointed a non-resident fellow with the Future of Work and Innovation Economy initiative at the think-tank

New America Foundation New America, formerly the New America Foundation, is an American Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal think tank founded in 1999. It focuses on a range of public policy issues, including national security, technology, health, gender, ...

. Firth-Butterfield has authored of two books: ''Human Rights and Human Trafficking'' and ''Laws on Human Trafficking'', the latter co-authored with Tina Miranda. She has also written numerous articles and given speeches on the topics of AI, law, international relations, AI ethics and AI for business and government transformation.

Education

Firth-Butterfield graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in the School of Social Science, Law and International Politics at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

. She also attended St. Mary's University for her further studies, where she received a Master's of International Relations, Conflict and Security and a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

. She has also completed Law Society Exams of the Law Society of England and Wales, and a Barrister of Law certification at the Inns of Court School of Law.

Career

Firth-Butterfield started her career as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and part-time judge in the United Kingdom. Over time, she began to research more topics about the future of law, including the impact of AI, and specialized more at the intersection of AI and policy. More recently, she has served as an adjunct professor of law at the

, where she co-founded the Responsible AI Institute. Firth-Butterfield is currently an Associate Fellow at the Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. She has advised governments, think tanks, and nonprofits about artificial intelligence law, ethics, and policy. She established an AI ethics advisory panel at Lucid.ai in 2014, which has since included AI experts like Murray Shanahan,

Max Tegmark Max Erik Tegmark (born 5 May 1967) is a Swedish-American physicist, machine learning researcher and author. He is best known for his book ''Life 3.0'' about what the world might look like as artificial intelligence continues to improve. Tegmark i ...

, and Derek Jinks. Since 2015, she has served as the Executive Committee Vice Chair of

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

's Global Initiative on Ethical Considerations in the Design of AI and Autonomous Systems. She has also served on

Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

’s advisory panel on AI and law, the advisory board for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

's International Research Centre on AI, and AI4ALL's advisory board. In 2023, Kay Firth-Butterfield became the CEO of Good Tech Advisory, an organisation driving business transformation through the benefits of AI and frontier technologies.

Selected awards and honors

* 2017 – Most Important 25 Women in Robotics * 2018 – 12 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics * 2020 – ''

VentureBeat ''VentureBeat'' is an American technology website headquartered in San Francisco, California. ''VentureBeat'' is a tech news source that publishes news, analysis, long-form features, interviews, and videos. The ''VentureBeat'' company was fou ...

'' Women in AI Awards Responsibility & Ethics of AI Nominee * 2020 – 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics Hall of Fame Honoree * 2020 – ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' Women Defining The 21st Century AI Movement * 2021 – ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 10 Women Changing the Landscape of Leadership * 2024 - ''

Time 100 ''Time'' 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly ...

'' AI Impact Award * 2024 - Marquis Who's Who Maker's List of Emerging Innovators to Watch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firth-Butterfield, Kay Living people English barristers Artificial intelligence ethicists Alumni of the University of Sussex St. Mary's University School of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people)