Dr. Kate Darling

Dr Kate Darling is one of the leading experts in the field of Robot Ethics. Her stellar career has taken her to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she is a research scientist for the prestigious university. Her ground-breaking research will be key in understanding the relationship between robots and humans, which will influence generations to come. One of the most highly respected experts in the world on the subject of social robotics, Kate is also an experienced speaker on the subjects of emerging technology and robot ethics.

Originally graduating from Law School, Kate then went on to pursue her passion for robotics and AI, completing her doctorate of Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and gained an honorary doctorate of sciences from Middlebury College. In recognition of her legal work, she was honoured with the Mark T. Banner Award in Intellectual property by the American Bar Association. At MIT Kate’s work has become vital in exploring the emotional connection between people and machines. Kate’s extensive knowledge of law and intellectual properties, having served as an intellectual property advisor to the director of MIT Media Lab, has given her a strong foundation to ask the difficult questions which will become more important in the coming decades which lawmakers, engineers, and the public will need to face.

Having co-taught a robot ethics course at Harvard Law School, Kate began to explore the boundaries between law and robotics, research which she continues today. As a testament to her expertise, Kate’s work has been featured in publications such as Vogue, The New Yorker, BBC, The Guardian, Forbes, The Boston Globe and The Japan Times to name a few. She has become an affiliate at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. As a leader in her field, Kate has delivered a TED talk ‘Why We Have an Emotional Connection to Robots’ which has been viewed over 3 million times and has also delivered talks at The Conference 2015: Human-Robot Relationships, WebTomorrow 2015: Science Fiction or Reality?, and at Robot Ethics, Montreal 2016.

The former Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society’s work has also been requested for publications, and Kate is now a contributing writer to Robohub and IEEE Spectrum, writing a monthly column for the BBC’s Science Focus. Further contributing to her literary work, Kate wrote ‘The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots’ and has been featured on numerous podcasts throughout the years. As an expert in AI, there is no doubt Dr Kate Darling will be able to inform your audience on why discussing machines is so important, making for a thrilling keynote speech at your next event.

A world renowned authority on emerging technology and robotic ethics, Dr Kate Darling was officially inducted to the world’s top voted 20 keynote speakers on AI.

In March 2024 Dr. Kate Darling conducted a keynote speech discussing how people emotionally respond to robots and explores the intricate relationships between humans and machines. Watch this Exclusive Keynote Speech from Dr. Kate Darling here.