Dr James Wright

Dr James Wright is a Research Associate on PATH-AI: Mapping an Intercultural Path to Privacy, Agency, and Trust in Human-AI Ecosystems, a joint project with RIKEN, Japan's largest comprehensive research institution. The project studies the values of privacy, agency, and trust from a comparative and intercultural perspective looking at both Japan and the UK. He is currently seconded to UNESCO where he is assisting with the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI. 

James’ PhD in anthropology and science and technology studies at the University of Hong Kong, completed in 2018, looked at the development and attempted implementation of care robots in Japan, and involved 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Japan. This work formed the basis of his book, Robots Won’t Save Japan: An Ethnography of Eldercare Automation. 

Before joining The Alan Turing Institute, James was a research associate on the Sustainable Care programme at the University of Sheffield, where he looked at how digital technologies are transforming adult social care in the UK, and what potential they hold for the future. He was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Fondation France-Japon, part of the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris, and is an Associate Researcher on the Innovcare project. 

James’ recent invited lectures and talks include:

·       “Are robots the solution to Japan’s care crisis?” Invited seminar, Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, University of Oxford.

·       “Suspect AI - Vibraimage, Emotion Recognition Technology, and Algorithmic Opacity.” Invited seminar, Mellon Sawyer Seminar on Histories of AI, University of Cambridge.

·       “The potential of technology in adult social care.” Interview, “Care Matters” podcast.

·       “Alexa, Care Worker Platforms, and Emergent Precarious Technologies of Care in the UK.” Conference paper presentation, Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Annual Conference.

·       “Technology in care: opportunities and obstacles in place-based care contexts.” Conference paper presentation, Sustainable Care Conference, University of Sheffield.

·       “ICT development and use in social care systems in the UK.” Invited talk, Technology-Enabled Care Services Association (TSA).

·       “Robots and AI in Japanese care.” Invited talk, BNP Paribas.

·       “AI, robots and care work in Japan.” Invited seminar, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

·       “Robot care devices in action.” Invited seminar, Japanese National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

·       “Robots vs immigrants? Reconfiguring the future of Japanese institutional eldercare.” Invited lecture, SOAS Japan Research Seminar.

·       “Care robots in Japan.” Invited seminar, Centre Maurice Halbwachs CNRS-EHESS and Ecole Normale Supérieure.

·       “Public innovation and emerging technologies in health and social care across Japan and Europe.” Panel organizer, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) workshop