Artificial intelligence (AI) is of growing importance to our everyday lives, whether used to serve up relevant content on social media, write quick-response news stories, or make key decisions in autonomous cars. But, as well as opportunities, it poses a broad set of challenges, from the technical to the legal to the ethical.
Our researchers consider the full range of questions on AI. Projects on AI have built on the concept of ‘counterfactual explanations’ to explain complex ‘black-box’ decision-making and asked about the benefits and risks of the introduction of AI into domestic work. OII researchers have also written reports on how AI could be deployed in local government and healthcare, as well as setting out the different levels of support for the use of AI around the world.
By James Muldoon, Mark Graham, Callum Cant.
AI is an extraction machine that feeds off humanity's collective effort and intelligence, churning through ever-larger datasets to power its algorithms. This book details what we need to do to fight for a more just digital future.
By Yorick Wilks (Editor)
What will it be like to admit Artificial Companions into our society? This book from the 'Companions' project explores both the technical construction of conversational software agents, and their personal, philosophical and social consequences.
This project seeks to understand how citizens listen and speak to public institutions, and how alternative AI-based models and framing might encourage democratic communication.
With mobile devices ubiquitous among young people, it is not surprising that parents are increasingly turning to technology for help in childcare. This project examines monitoring technologies and how parents use them as part of child supervision.
The shift to cloud represents a reversal of the 1980s personal computing revolution: computation is moving from personal devices back into large, centralized facilities. This project seeks to understand the economic drivers of this reversal.
By Amy Ross Arguedas and Felix M. Simon
Generative AI stands to reshape journalism and society. What will these effects be Can we protect democratic values? This report presents findings from the 'Automating Democracy' project and open questions to be addressed as AI unfolds its effects.
30 April 2025
New Oxford study offers roadmap for understanding video games’ complex impact on wellbeing
31 March 2025
New research reveals that social connections, more so than political alignment, can promote engagement with user-driven corrections of misinformation on social media platforms like X.
31 March 2025
The OII's Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo explores the digitalisation of defence and its intersection with liberal democratic values.
12 March 2025
New analysis finds that the number of hours spent playing Nintendo games did not significantly affect adults’ mental well-being, life satisfaction, emotional state, or depressive symptoms.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 27 April 2025
Hit by workers’ rights lawsuits in Kenya, the tech giant has moved its outsourcing to a top-secret new site – where life is grimmer still
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), 25 February 2025
Artificial intelligence replaces routine tasks while simultaneously increasing the demand for complementary human skills. The positive effect clearly prevails
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), 26 March 2025
The history of AI is shaped by impressive technological advances. However, a flexible and forward-looking labour market is needed to master this technological transformation.”
