Professor Catherine Flick

Catherine is a Professor of Ethics and Games Technology who has a background in history and philosophy of science and computer science. Catherine also has a PhD in Computer Ethics, where she looked at informed consent in information technology.

Having played video games since she was very small, she has always had an interest in them, and has since carved out a specific niche area of research looking at the ethical and social impact of games. She also has expertise in the ethics of emerging technologies, including cryptocurrencies and blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and social media, along with interests in online safety and online child protection, and responsible research and innovation.

She has led on several European funded research projects on responsible research and innovation in industry, has been part of national, international, and charity-funded projects, and has been part of the IGGI Centre for Doctoral Training programme as the responsible innovation lead. She has consulted on bills for MPs and government departments; reviewed funding bids for international funders such as the Dutch and Austrian funding agencies; and consulted on ethics approaches for non-profit and industry organisations, including being part of the steering committee for rewriting the Association of Computing Machinery’s Code of Ethics. One of her co-authored papers is a case study of good practice in the DCMS Video Games Research Framework. She is a founding member of the Digital Observatory, a collective studying large datasets covering human interactions with technology, including video games.

She is currently vice-chair of the ACM’s Committee on Professional Ethics, gives frequent and regular comment to the media on current technological affairs (including the BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, New Scientist, Fast Company, and others), is an Associate Editor for ACM Games: Research and Practice, and helps to lead the content team for the non-profit hacker/maker festival Electromagnetic Field.