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Biography
Dr Ozlem Ulgen is Associate Professor in Law specialising in the law, ethics, and regulation of AI and robotics; moral and legal philosophy covering weapons law and international humanitarian law; and public international law. She previously held positions as Reader in International Law and Ethics at Birmingham City University; Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College and the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge; and Lecturer in Public International Law at the University of Sheffield and University of Aberdeen. She holds degrees from the University of Nottingham (PhD, LLM) and Keele University (BA Hons). She is a qualified barrister (non-practising) and barrister member of Gray's Inn.
Dr Ulgen has an extensive research and publications record including published works on cosmopolitan ethics in warfare, Kantian ethics and human dignity in the age of AI and robotics, and the law and ethics of autonomous weapons. She is regularly invited to provide expertise and speak at national and international conferences at leading academic and governmental institutions including The Asser Institute; The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies; the UK Ministry of Defence; the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Royal Danish Defence College; and the National University of Defence Technology.
Expertise Summary
Dr Ulgen is engaged in UN, UNESCO, IEEE, and NIST international law-making, standard-setting, and regulatory initiatives in the area of emerging technologies. She is Academic Legal Expert to the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (UN GGE on LAWS), and for several years has been involved in drafting legal and ethical rules on emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems. She has produced reports defining lethal autonomous weapons systems, attribution of human responsibility and human control elements in weapons systems, and reviewing regulatory models. Her work in this area has been instrumental in influencing the UN GGE on LAWS, culminating in the adoption of the 2019 Guiding Principles on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.
Dr Ulgen contributed to the work of the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group for the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in elaborating rules and principles relating to human responsibility and accountability for AI actors. This culminated in the first global instrument on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, which was adopted by 193 countries on 23 November 2021.
Dr Ulgen is Chair of the Accountability Expert Focus Group for the world's oldest technical standard-setting body, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Ethics Certification Programme for Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (ECPAIS). She has led on the development and drafting of the world's first human responsibility and accountability requirements for ethical certification of autonomous and intelligent systems in the public and private sectors.
Dr Ulgen is Expert Member of IEEE Standards Working Group P7007 Ontological Standard for Ethically Driven Robotics and Automation Systems, and for several years has drafted the first global standard setting out legal principles and ethical values governing the design and development of autonomous intelligent systems. This culminated in the official publication of the P7007 Standard on 12 November 2021. Dr Ulgen is the recipient of the 2021 IEEE-SA Emerging Technology Award for her outstanding contribution to developing an innovative ontological standard on the ethics of AI.
Dr Ulgen is also Expert Member of IEEE Standards Working Group P7000 Model Process for Addressing Ethical Concerns During System Design, and has drafted legal principles and ethical values applicable to engineers, designers, programmers, and companies in the design and development of AI products, services, and systems. This culminated in the official publication of the P7000 Standard on 15 September 2021.
Teaching Summary
- LLM Law, AI and Robotics
- LLM Weapons Law and International Armed Conflict
- LLB Law of the European Union
- LLM EU Trade Law, Brexit and International Relations
Research Summary
Cosmopolitan legal theory and Kantian ethics
International humanitarian law and weapons law
Law and ethics of new weapons technologies under international humanitarian law (including lethal… read more