University of Sheffield, Emeritus Prof. of AI & Robotics Prof of Public Engagement.
Noel Sharkey BA PhD DSc FIET FBCS CITP FRIN FRSA Emeritus Professor of AI and Robotics and Professor of Public Engagement at the University of Sheffield (Department of Computer Science) and journal editor. He has held a number of research and teaching positions in the UK (Essex, Exeter, Sheffield) and the USA (Yale, Stanford). Noel has moved freely across academic disciplines, lecturing in departments of engineering, philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, artificial intelligence, computer science, robotics, ethics and law. He holds a Doctorate in Experimental Psychology (Exeter) and a Doctorate of Science (UU), is a Chartered Electrical Engineer and Chartered information technology professional. Noel is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, the British Computer Society, the Royal Institute of Navigation, the Royal Society of Arts and is a member of both the Experimental Psychology Society and Equity (the actors union) for his work on popular robot TV shows such as Robot Wars, TechnoGames and Bright Sparks. Noel is well known for his early work on many aspects of neural computing, machine learning and genetic algorithms. As well as writing many academic articles, he also writes for national newspapers and magazines and has created thrilling robotics museum exhibitions, mechanical art installations and has run robotics and AI contests for young people from 26 countries including the Chinese Creative Robotics Contest and the Egyptian Schools AI and Robotics competition. He was EPSRC Senior Media Fellow (2004-2010) and is a joint team holder of the Royal Academy of Engineering Rooke medal for the promotion of engineering. Noel's core research is now on ethical/legal/human rights issues in application of robotics and AI in areas such as the military, child care, elder care, policing, autonomous transport, robot crime, medicine/surgery, border control, sex and civil surveillance. At present Noel is engaged in advocacy about the ethical, legal and technical aspects of military robotics. He travels the world to talk to the military, NATO, the UN, policy makers, academics and other groupings such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. He was Leverhulme Research Fellow on the ethical and technical appraisal of robots on the Battlefield (2010-2012), is co-founder and chairman elect of the NGO: International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) and a principle spokesperson for a large international coalition of NGOs under the title of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.
