CAIDE Capacities and Expertise
As an interdisciplinary research centre, CAIDE is capable of drawing on a vast network of researchers with expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Law, Regulation, Cyber Security, Sociology, Ethics and Philosophy.
Current research and investigation
At present CAIDE is harnessing this capacity to investigate technologies such as telecommunications customer service chatbots, workplace health and wellbeing monitoring technologies, as well as conducting insightful research into the ethics of AI in healthcare, and building capacity among the legal profession in understanding the limits and possibilities of digital regulation.
Our research is particularly focused on the use cases, technical and applied, of digital technologies and we share these learnings and case studies across our wide teaching portfolio. We are committed to upskilling students and professionals in the field of AI Ethics and our courses are always delivered by experts from the CAIDE team and community.
Our capabilities
CAIDE can provide expert advice and capacity building on the following topics:
- Contestable, explainable and accountable AI
- Consumer protection and new technology law
- Regulatory frameworks and protection
- Trusted AI
- Ethical and philosophical reasoning
- Ethical implications for medical AI
- Cyber Security
- AI for business
- Online dispute resolution (ODR)
- Technology for development
Our Experts
- Professor Jeannie Paterson
Co-Director, Centre for AI and Digital Ethics
PhD(Monash); LLB(Hons)/BA (ANU)
Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia
Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law
Professor Jeannie Paterson is a leading specialist in contract law, consumer credit law and consumer protection law, and innovative expert in the emerging field of New Technology Law. Jeannie is the author of leading texts and numerous articles in these fields. She is the Co-Director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics. Jeannie continues to hold a current legal practicing certificate and consults regularly to state and federal government, not-for-profit organisations and regulators. Jeannie is a captivating and discerning teacher. She teaches across all programs at Melbourne Law School, including the popular breadth subject ‘AI, Ethics and the Law’, ‘New Technology Law’ in the Juris Doctor (with PwC), and ‘Digital Consumer Law’ in the Melbourne Law Masters.
- Professor Tim Miller
Co-Director, Centre for AI and Digital Ethics
PhD (Computer Science.) BSc (Information Technology)
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Professor Tim Miller is a pioneer in the field of AI-assisted decision making and explainable AI. His work focuses on the areas of Human-AI interaction and collaboration, explainable AI, accountability and trust. Tim has extensive experience developing novel and innovative solutions with industry and defence collaborators. Tim is the Deputy Head of School (Academic) in the School of Computing and Information Systems as well as being the Co-Director for the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics. He is most well known for his ability to convey complex Artificial Intelligence concepts to those outside his field and provide explanations and critiques with theories from the social sciences.
- Gabby Bush
Program Manager
MS - Development Studies, BA (Hons) (Te Herenga Waka / Victoria University Wellington)
Centre for AI and Digital Ethics
Gabby is the Program Manager at the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics at the University of Melbourne. Gabby has a bachelors and Honours in Politics and Religious Studies and a Masters in International Development. Previously, Gabby worked for the United Nations Development Program and focused on projects relating to eGovernance and Digitization in the Pacific Islands. From this experience Gabby has a wealth of knowledge in international development projects, bilateral and multilateral aid especially on projects relating to digital technologies. Gabby has pursued research in technology and Art, AI in Government, and has written and researched widely on topics centred around the intersection of law, technology and society, specifically encompassing algorithmic bias, Algorithmic Decision-Making, as well as the incentives and business models of technology companies.
- Dr Michael Wildenauer
Teaching & Learning Manager and Senior Research Fellow
PhD (Corporate Governance), MBA (Computing), GradDip (Communications Law,) BSc (Mathematical Sciences)
Centre for AI and Digital Ethics
Prior to entering academia, Michael held senior technology leadership positions such as CTO and CIO in organizations in Australia, the US, UK and in Europe. Utilising this expertise, Michael has taught MBA and masters’ courses in technology, professional, and business ethics, innovation, and corporate governance. He is currently the Subject Development Coordinator and Research Fellow at the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, and a Non-executive Director of the Royal Children’s Hospital, in addition to being the Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Australian Computer Society (ACS). Michael's research interests are at the intersection of technology, ethics rights, law, governance, and civil society. He is also named as co-inventor on several technology patents and is a current Certified Professional and Senior Member of the ACS, and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
- Dr Simon Coghlan
Senior Lecturer in Digital Ethics
PhD (ACU), GCertHE(ACU), GDipArts (Phil) (Melb), MBioethics (Monash), BVSc (Melb)
Centre for AI and Digital Ethics
Dr Simon Coghlan is an eminent academic in the fields of animal-computer interaction, digital technologies in healthcare, and public health. Simon is a qualified veterinarian and moral philosopher, and is known for the capacious insights he brings to the table on topics such as conservation ethics, animal ethics, and health ethics. In Simon's capacity as a Senior Research Fellow, he is currently undertaking research on digital technologies and animal welfare, whilst also teaching AI, chatbot and robot ethics, as well as human-machine interaction.
- Dr Fahimeh Abedi
Research Fellow
Ninian Stephen Law Program: New Legal Thinking for Emerging Technologies
PhD (Victoria University), L.L.M (UKM)
Centre for AI and Digital Ethics
Dr Fahimeh Abedi has conducted research and taught in Australia and Malaysia for over ten years, with has a strong research background on the intersection of law and artificial intelligence. During her PhD research ‘Universal Standards for the Concepts of Fairness, Trust and Security in Online Dispute Resolution in B2C E-disputes’, she developed new standards and regulatory frameworks for online dispute resolution systems that have been cited and published by odr.info, the primary social, scientific, and academic networks. She has worked in different law and business schools at La Trobe University, Deakin University, Victoria University, Southern Cross University, Torrens University Australia and National University of Malaysia (UKM). Fahimeh has extensive research experience in designing and conducting qualitative and quantitative research and has published widely in international journals and publication outlets. Her research interests lie broadly in online dispute resolution, cyber security law, ethics of AI decision-making, access to justice and consumer dispute resolution.
- Dr Shaanan Cohney
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security
Bachelor of Science (UoM,) Masters of Law, Masters of Science in Engineering, PhD (University of Pennsylvania.)
School of Computing and Information Systems
Dr Cohney is a Lecturer (equivalent to a U.S. Assistant Professor) at the University of Melbourne where his research centers on the interplay between computer systems and the law, with particular focus on applications of cryptography. In 2019, Dr Cohney was the inaugural Geller Fellow of the Wharton Public Policy Initiative, with a summer placement in the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where he assisted in the development of technology strategy within the commission.
- Dr Marc Cheong
Lecturer in Information Systems (Digital Ethics)
Bachelor of Computer Science (Monash,) PhD (Monash)
School of Computing and Information Systems
Marc is a Senior Lecturer - Information Systems (Digital Ethics); Senior Fellow (at Melbourne Law School); and an Honorary Burnet Institute Senior Fellow. He is interested in the intersection of technology (big data, social media, etc) and philosophy (existentialism, ethics, epistemology, and Experimental Philosophy). He has a strong background in data science and social media analysis, and he is one of the early pioneers in Twitter research, having completed his PhD on 'Inferring Social Behavior and Interaction on Twitter by Combining Metadata about Users & Messages'. His current research deals with the philosophy (ethics, epistemology, and phenomenology) behind contemporary social media usage and social networking trends. With a strong commitment in inter- and cross-disciplinary research, he is interested in combining data science techniques, information systems methodologies, and philosophical rigour in answering the 'big questions' in today's world, and to augment research in other disciplines. He is active in science communication, and is experienced in communicating academic research to a general audience. He also has a strong track record in teaching, having won several awards through his career as an academic.
In addition to the core team, CAIDE comprises of researchers and experts from across the University of Melbourne. In order to further our cross-disciplinary research we often consult our collaborators from Computer Science, Arts, Law and Science.
See our CAIDE Community here.