Ana Valdivia is a Departmental Research Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Government & Policy at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). Ana investigates how datafication and algorithmic systems are transforming political, social, and ecological worlds. With a background in mathematics and computer science, her research focuses on the impact of AI on local communities, borders, and territories. Her current work aims to examine the environmental impact of AI across its supply chain—from mineral extraction to chip manufacturing, data centres, and electronic waste dumps. She is also interested in analysing algorithmic resistance and oppression through a feminist lens.
In her previous research, Ana has critically examined the impact of datafication technologies in various contexts, including migration and criminal justice. She has explored the colonial and racial legacy of biometrics, presenting her findings at notable conferences such as ACM Fairness, Accountability, and Fairness (ACM FAccT). During her postdoctoral research at King’s College London, she developed digital methodologies to uncover the political economy of algorithmic systems used in border security, such as biometric databases and maritime surveillance algorithms. Additionally, Ana led a collaboration with magistrates in Spain to understand the impact of gender-based violence risk assessment tools in courts, which was highlighted by the Montreal AI Ethics Institute. Her transdisciplinary research agenda combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies, bridging the gap between computer science and social science, and collaborating with scholars from diverse disciplines, including political science, philosophy, and law. Her work has been published in AI&Ethics, AI&SOCIETY, and AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics & Society. Ana also serves as an Assistant Editor for the journal Big Data & Society.
Ana is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the UCL Centre of Advanced Studies where she investigates AI supply chains. In 2023, her research on AI supply chains was awarded by the British Academy. In 2022, Ana received the Post-Doctoral Enrichment Award by The Alan Turing Institute. She is also a former fellow of Data Science for Social Good program at the University of Chicago (USA). Ana has recently been invited as a keynote speaker by Tecnológico de Monterrey (México).
She actively collaborates with international grassroot tech organisations such as AlgoRace and Tierra Común to raise awareness of how algorithmic harms affects racialised communities. Her work garnered attention from international media outlets such as the Washington Post o El País.
Areas of Interest for MSc Supervision
Ana is interested in supervising projects that bring an original perspective on AI across a variety of fields. As the main convenor of the course on Fairness, Transparency and Accountability in Machine Learning, she invites proposals that creatively explore gaps and explore possibilities within critical AI studies. Proposals are welcome from diverse backgrounds and contexts, including environmental, migration, or gender studies. Below is a list of potential topics, though it is not exhaustive:
She strongly encourages students from any background, who are eager to learn transdisciplinary methods within critical algorithmic/AI studies, to apply to work with her.
Please note that she is not accepting DPhil candidates or proposals for the 2025-2026 academic year.
17:30 -18:30, Seminar room, 1 St Giles
With Dr Ana ValdiviaThis talk presents insights from an 18-month investigation into the supply chains of AI, funded by a British Academy grant awarded to Dr Ana Valdivia.
8 June 2023
Experts from the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) are calling for better access to platform data for academic and civil society research, in order to understand the impact of platform algorithms
The Guardian, 25 September 2024
Many fear the arrival of tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the state of Querétaro will place too much of a strain on scarce water and electricity resources.
Thomson Reuters Foundation News, 06 September 2024
Artificial intelligence lives on power and water, fed to it in vast quantities by data centres around the world. And those centres are increasingly located in the global south.
CTXT, 10 February 2024
Dr Ana Valdivia speaks with CTXT about algorithms, bias and the infrastructure behind the AI race.
DPhil Student
Lujain is a DPhil student in Social Data Science at the OII. Her research sits at the intersection of AI governance and human-centred computing, particularly examining how user autonomy and control are undermined in human-AI interactions.
DPhil Student
Anna George is a Social Data Science doctoral student who uses computational approaches to study online political behaviour. Her research focuses on the message diffusion of alternative communities such as hate groups and political extremists.
DPhil Student
Boxi is an ESRC-funded DPhil researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute where they are working on the politics of AI infrastructure. Prior to returning to academia Boxi worked in AI ethics at Google DeepMind.
Integrating historical and cultural context with contemporary scholarship, this course equips students with the technical and conceptual tools to engage critically with machine learning research and practice.
