I am an interdisciplinary human rights and artificial intelligence (AI) scholar working at the intersection of law, ethics, and critical political theory. My research interests and activities focus on the collective and societal impact of AI-driven technologies, especially biometric technologies such as facial and emotion recognition systems, and on developing human rights-compliant proposals for the regulation of AI.

Three key questions guide my current research: first, how does AI affect groups with protected characteristics such as sex or race? Second, how does AI impact on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law? I am particularly interested in AI’s effect on the collective exercise of political rights (e.g., freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association), and its capacity to generate harms to societal values such as democracy and the rule of law. Third, how can we design regulatory responses that are ethically sound and lawful, anchored in best practice in international human rights law?

I am currently developing these interests via three projects:

Biometric technologies and political rights

This project examines the impact of biometric technologies (esp. facial recognition technology, emotion recognition technology) on political rights (e.g., freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association) and develops regulatory proposals for biometric technologies that are anchored in international human rights law. I have already completed a journal article on this topic, and I am currently preparing a book proposal and a grant application.

Online disinformation and freedom of expression

This project investigates the phenomenon of online disinformation and identifies the limitations of human rights law in addressing the challenges that stem from disinformation practices.

Gender, AI, and digital human rights

I am leading a comparative study of legal instruments and policy initiatives on gender, AI, and digital human rights in Europe (forthcoming 2024).

My current work builds on my previous research on the ethics of lethal autonomous weapons systems, on the geopolitics of drone use, and on my work on critical traditions in human rights theory. Some of this research has been disseminated in my edited books, on Critical Perspectives on Human Rights (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2018) and in the Routledge Handbook to Rethinking Ethics in Human Rights (Routledge, 2020). I also have a long-standing interest in feminist theory and have published books on Judith Butler (Routledge, 2014) and on Julia Kristeva (Edinburgh University Press, 2011), two of the most significant thinkers in contemporary feminist thought.

Professional Activities

Regulating biometrics: Algorithmic violence and the making of law: Invited speaker; 24/6/2025
Policing, Justice, and Law Enforcement in a Digital Age: Invited speaker; 24/6/2025
Human rights and biometric technologies: challenges for legal scholarship: Invited speaker; 18/6/2025
Regulating the Digital Welfare State: Could a Human Rights-Based Approach Prevent Harm in Algorithmic Decisions?: Speaker; 5/3/2025
Just AI: Gender, Power, and Intersectional Discrimination: Invited speaker; 19/2/2025
'Meet the Experts': Restorative GenAI Systems: Invited speaker; 6/2/2025

More professional activities

Projects

Spatial Open-Source Intelligence (S-OSINT) in the Age of Misinformation and Disinformation: Schippers, Birgit (Principal Investigator) Riccardi, Annalisa (Principal Investigator) O'Donnell, Therese (Principal Investigator) Vasile, Massimiliano (Principal Investigator); Reliable and verifiable sources that can document human rights abuses or violations of international humanitarian law are crucial in legal contexts. Spatial open-source intelligence (S-OSINT), which is information that is gathered from publicly available digital data such as satellite or remote sensing data, has become an increasingly significant resource in human rights lawyering, from investigations and fact-finding missions through to courtroom evidence at trial. S-OSINT can bypass challenges in evidence gathering, especially where access to witnesses or sites is difficult.

Despite its considerable value, the use of S-OSINT raises concerns about its impact on data privacy and security, and about the validity and reliability of open-source information. Specifically, worries about the effects of misinformation—the inadvertent sharing of inaccurate content—and disinformation—the intentional sharing of inaccurate content with the aim of causing harm—can raise doubts about the trustworthiness of S-OSINT.

This project asks what best practice in the use of S-OSINT in legal contexts should look like, and it will create frameworks to prevent misinformation and disinformation from undermining the value of S-OSINT.

By investigating the legal, ethical and engineering challenges of S-OSINT, the project will establish rigorous standards that will inform a best practice framework for engineers, legal professionals, researchers, and other S-OSINT users. Its interdisciplinary approach supports the project’s ambition to advance the development of human-centred, ethical and lawful uses of digital and industrial technologies. With this focus, the project will also enhance the Global Challenges theme ‘Digital, Industry and Space’.

To deliver on its ambition, the project will (1) develop a Strathclyde-led interdisciplinary research programme that will create a best practice framework for the use of S-OSINT; (2) foster interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaborations with external partners, including international governmental and non-governmental organisations, legal professionals, and SMEs; and (3) prepare two external funding applications.; 30-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2025

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