Oonagh Murphy is Director of the Responsible AI Cultural Leaders Academy at Arts Council England, Senior Lecturer in Digital Culture at Goldsmiths, and a BRAID Research Fellow. With a background spanning academia, policy, and research leadership, her work focuses on how organisations and societies can navigate the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence responsibly. She has worked extensively at the intersection of technology, culture, governance, and public policy, bringing together leaders from across sectors to address the societal impacts of emerging technologies. Her research and leadership explore responsible AI, public value, and the capabilities needed for effective decision-making in the cultural sector at a time of rapid technological change.
What I am working on:
Right now, I split my time between leading research and teaching as a Senior Lecturer in Digital Culture and Society at Goldsmiths, University of London, and working as a Responsible AI Research Fellow at Arts Council England where I lead research that examines how the cultural sector is engaging with AI technologies and their impacts on society. I’m a frequent Keynote Speaker and workshop facilitator and enjoy bringing my experience, and perspective on values led decision making to industry, policy and education events. My work has been published in six languages, and I’ve worked in more than 15 countries from the United States to Uzbekistan, South Korea to Switzerland.
My work sits at the intersection of policy, practice, and people. I advise the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), support funders to design responsible AI frameworks, and collaborate with institutions like The National Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MUNCH, and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum. Whether I’m working with a board, project teams, artists or policy makers, my goal is the same: to help individuals and organisations ask better questions about technology.
I am an accredited Data Ethics Facilitator with the Open Data Institute. Accredited AI Governance Professional AIGP. Was a fellow at The Alan Turing Institute from 2024-2026. Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Churchill Fellow. In 2014 I was awarded a PhD for my research on Digital Transformation in the cultural sector in Northern Ireland.
I have secured significant funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the European Union to lead research in artificial intelligence, digital leadership, and cultural value across the UK and USA.
hello@oonaghmurphy.com
