María Pérez-Ortiz

I am a Senior Researcher (equivalent to Assistant Professor) at the Department of Computer Science at University College London (UK).

My research revolves around technology (specifically artificial intelligence) and sustainability, spanning applications on the environmental and social domain, with a critical socio-technical-ecological perspective. I am interested in the questions:

• Could technology enable us (or inhibit our progress) to create a more sustainable future, socially and environmentally?
• If so, how to build such tools responsibly, and how to measure their social and environmental impact to ensure it remains beneficial and sustainable?
• If deployed and governed responsibly, are there any grand global challenges where technology could have an important role to play in terms of sustainability, and what are the trade-offs?
• Could simulation intelligence help us map and craft sustainable trajectories?

I am program co-leader for the first MSc program on AI for Sustainable Development. The program starts in October 2022, applications are currently open!

I am also the module leader of two courses at UCL: AI for Sustainable Development and Transparent, Accountable and Responsible AI.

In my spare time I write poems on tech and sustainability.