PhD Studentship: Putting Artificial Intelligence into Social Context: Developing Artificial Int

Funding amount:

Tuition fees (Home), and an annual tax‑free stipend of £21,237/year

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship in the Department of Computer Science. The successful candidate will work at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and psychology, studying the impact of conversational agents in social interactions within different organisational structures. The student will be hosted at the Artificial Intelligence Research Centre (CitAI) and collaborate with colleagues at the Department of Psychology. The project will examine how artificial intelligence impacts cooperation by developing novel AI agents that converse and interact within specific social contexts, and by assessing these technologies in terms of collaboration, ethical and legal challenges.

The candidate should have a first or upper second‑class BSc/MSc (or equivalent) degree in Artificial Intelligence and demonstrate aptitude for original research. A strong background in conversational agents and large language models, as well as proficiency in Python programming, will be highly preferred. An interest or background in psychology or social sciences is desirable.

• Demonstrate a sound knowledge of the research area.
• Achieve and demonstrate significant depth in several chosen sub‑areas relevant to the primary research area.
• Conduct independent research, including a critical assessment of one’s own and others’ work.

The studentship is for 3 years and provides an annual tax‑free stipend of £21,237, tuition fees for Home students, and £4,000 for travel and conference attendance. Start date 1st October 2024.

Each student may have the opportunity to earn around £2,200 per year on average (maximum approximately £4,300) through a teaching assistantship.

City, University of London is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all its activities, processes, and culture for our whole community, including staff, students and visitors. We welcome applications regardless of age, caring responsibilities, disability, gender identity, gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, pregnancy, race and ethnic origin, religion and belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio‑economic background. City operates a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants.