University of Bristol
Bristol
United Kingdom
jessica.woodgate@bristol.ac.uk
Current Computer Science Ph.D. student at the University of Bristol. Passionate about the impact of technology on society, research interests are in AI ethics and multi-agent systems, specifically how normative ethics principles can be applied to decision-making capacities in sociotechnical systems (STS).
Education
Ph.D. Computer Science, University of Bristol, UK
November 2022 - May 2027
- Building models implementing normative ethical principles in reasoning about values and norms
- Conducted a survey of the operationalisation of normative ethical principles in computer science research
- Assist in organising Data Ethics Club, including writing blog posts and facilitating discussions
- Assist in organising Citizen-Centric AI Seminar Series, including website management and facilitating discussions
M.Sc. Computer Science (Conversion): Distinction, University of Bristol, UK
September 2020 - January 2022
- Conducted analysis of how ethical principles in AI and Computer Science literature can be applied to multiple-user social dilemmas in STS
Continuing Professional Development
July 2018 - September 2020
- Formulated a strategic plan to develop skills necessary to make an effective contribution to the safety and integrity of AI technology advancements
- Extensive reading into AI, AI ethics and the evolution of the AI industry, arranging consultations with industry experts such as the EMEA CTO of VMWare, analytics managers at Aviva, lawyers specialising in technology law, AI Ph.D. candidates, and researchers at Microsoft
B.A.(Hons) Philosophy: Upper Second-Class Honours 68.5%, University of Sheffield, UK
September 2015 - July 2018
- Led a winning team research project competition in ethical decision making for resource allocation
GCE A2, The Henley College, Henley-on-Thames, UK
September 2012 - July 2014
- English Literature (A*), Psychology (A*), Classical Civilization (A)
GCSE, Gillotts Comprehensive School, Henley-on-Thames, UK
September 2006 - July 2011
- Mathematics (A*), Physics (A*), Biology (A*), Chemistry (A), English Language (A*) English Literature (A*), French (A*), Art and Design (A), History (A), Religious Studies (A*), Information Technologies (Distinction)
Academic Experience
Research Assistant, University of Bristol
January 2022 - November 2022
- Published a Blue Sky paper from the findings of M.Sc. dissertation suggesting research directions for the application of normative ethical principles to multiple user social dilemmas. Expanded the systematic literature review conducted in M.Sc. dissertation to incorporate a wider array of literature
Research Project, University of Bristol
September 2021 - January 2022
- Critically analysed ethical principles in computer science literature, and how they can be applied to multiple-user social dilemmas within a socio-technical system
Publications
Jessica Woodgate.
Ethical Decision-Making in Multi-Agent Systems. (Accepted/In press).
Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), May 2025, p. 1-3.
PDF.
Jessica Woodgate and Nirav Ajmeri.
Combining Normative Ethics Principles to Learn Prosocial Behaviour. (Accepted/In press).
Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), May 2025, p. 1-3.
PDF.
Video.
Jessica Woodgate, Paul Marshall, and Nirav Ajmeri.
Operationalising Rawlsian Ethics for Fairness in Norm Learning Agents. (Accepted/In press).
Proceedings of the 39th Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), February 2025, p. 1-9.
PDF.
Video.
Jessica Woodgate and Nirav Ajmeri.
Macro Ethics Principles for Responsible AI Systems: Taxonomy and Future Directions.
ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), May 2024, pages 1-39.
PDF.
Jessica Woodgate.
Ethical Principles for Reasoning about Value Preferences.
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Society (AIES),
Student Track, Montreal, August 2023, pages 972-974.
PDF.
Jessica Woodgate and Nirav Ajmeri.
Macro Ethics for Governing Equitable Sociotechnical Systems.
Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS),
Blue Sky Idea Track, Auckland, May 2022, pages 1824-1828.
PDF.
Academic Presentations
Invited Talks
January 2025. Generated Science: How AI is Impacting Academic Publishing. Copenhagen University Library, Online.
November 2024. Generated Science: How AI is Impacting Academic Publishing. Knowledge Exchange Expert Meeting. Jisc, Bristol.
Conference Papers
February 2025. Operationalising Rawlsian Ethics for Fairness in Norm-Learning Agents. 39th Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). Philadelphia.
August 2023. Ethical Principles for Reasoning about Value Preferences. 6th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Society (AIES), Student Track. Montreal.
May 2022. Macro Ethics for Governing Equitable Sociotechnical Systems. 21st International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), Blue Sky Idea Track. Auckland, Online.
Research Presentations
February 2025. Operationalising Rawlsian Ethics for Fairness in Norm-Learning Agents. Interactive AI Lunch and Learn Seminar Series. The University of Bristol.
January 2025. Normative Ethics for Prosocial Behaviour. Citizen-Centric AI Systems Workshop. The Royal Society, London.
November 2023. Paradigm Agents for a Just Society. Citizen-Centric AI Systems Workshop. The Royal Society, London.
September 2023. Paradigm Agents for a Just Society. Interactive AI Lunch and Learn Seminar Series. The University of Bristol.
Professional Service
November 2024 - current
- Help with organising workshops, project supervision, and investigating how robotics and computer science educational practices can support students in considering sustainability throughout their studies
July 2023 - current
- Assist with organisational and administration tasks related to facilitating the seminar series including moderating seminars, liaising with speakers, and website maintenance
January 2023 - current
- Author blog posts summarising reading related to data ethics and the discussions had surrounding them. Facilitate discussion and contribute to administration tasks
March 2025
Student Volunteer, AAAI, Philadelphia
February 2025
- Assisted at the AAAI 2025 conference by supporting volunteer arrangement
March 2024
Consultant, AI Ethics for Journalists, The Thompson Foundation
April 2023
- Advised construction of course on AI ethics for journalists, providing critical feedback on course content and structure
PC Member, AAMAS
December 2022
Student Volunteer, IJCAI, Vienna
August 2022
- Assisted at the IJCAI 2022 conference by ensuring sessions ran smoothly and speakers were supported, setting up rooms, and helping with registration. Expanded network and learnt about current directions of AI research
Awards
Funding to attend AAAI
February 2025
- Awarded 1200 USD from AAAI to attend and present at AAAI annual conference
Funding to attend AIES
August 2023
- Awarded 1300 USD from AIES and 750 GBP from Society for Applied Philosophy (SAP)) to attend and present at AIES
Teaching Experience
Postgraduate Project Co-Supervisor, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, UK
May 2025 - September 2025
- Robotics M.Sc. Summer Project
Teaching Assistant, Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, UK
September 2022 - December 2022
- Introduction to Computer Science, Computer Science (Conversion) M.Sc
Academic Projects (all available on Github)
Developer, RAWL⋅E
February 2025
- Built a codebase facilitating the creation of agents that promote ethical norms by operationalising Rawlsian ethics to balance societal well-being with individual goals
- Evaluations in simulated harvesting scenarios comparing societies of RAWL⋅E agents with societies of agents that do not implement Rawlsian ethics
SCRUM Leader, Database Lead, Back-End Co-Developer, Left Unread (Module: Software Engineering and Group Project)
February 2021 - May 2021
- SCRUM team leader ensuring regular effective meetings, sprint goals set and met, all team members were supported, user impact was addressed in the sort and long term, and ethical framework was adhered to
- Led database development and co-developed back-end development including building the API, and ensuring other back-end developers stayed on track
Developer, STAG (Module: Object-Oriented Programming with Java)
June 2021
- Built a general-purpose socket-server game-engine for text adventure games in Java
Developer, DB (Module: Object-Oriented Programming with Java)
March 2021
- Built a relational database server from scratch in Java