Sir Nigel Shadbolt, the Principal of Jesus College and a prominent computer scientist, was appointed by Oxford University to be Chair of AI@Oxford Research. AI@Oxford Research is an initiative to coordinate AI research across the University’s divisions, promote Oxford’s expertise, and develop large-scale research proposals.
A press release by the University also noted some of the ways AI has been used in Oxford research, including in drug development, ultrasound imaging, and even a perfunctory reference to the technology’s use in the social sciences and humanities.
Professor Shadbolt previously co-founded the Open Data Institute with Oxford research fellow Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web. Shadbolt had served as a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southampton prior to his appointment as principal of Jesus College, and was elected fellow of the prestigious Royal Society in 2017.
Shadbolt told Cherwell: “I am delighted to have been appointed Chair of AI@Oxford Research, and to have the opportunity to champion and help coordinate the University’s world-class research in artificial intelligence (AI) and innovation. I’m greatly looking forward to working with colleagues across the University to shape and communicate our collective vision for AI research, showcasing Oxford’s expertise on a wider stage to attract new partnerships, and investments.”
He highlighted that his role is “to champion and help coordinate Oxford’s world-class research in AI” and “to build new strategic partnerships, and encourage new investments in our people, infrastructure and innovation”. To demonstrate Oxford’s AI community and impact, he will also oversee the creation of a new website for this purpose. Additionally, Shadbolt highlighted the participation of students in AI@Oxford, such as Oxford’s Artificial Intelligence Society, “one of the most vibrant student AI societies in the world”.
Shadbolt framed the initiative as uniting the “technical, ethical, social, and policy dimensions of AI under one strategic umbrella”. He said that while short-term he would be focusing on building partnerships with “government, industry, and civil society”, long-term he hoped to “ensure the sum of our work at Oxford is more than its outstanding parts”.
The appointment of Sir Nigel Shadbolt comes with the University’s rapid embrace of AI – part of a worldwide rush of capital and research into the field. At the beginning of this Michaelmas term, the University announced that ChatGPT-5 would be provided free to all staff and students.
While AI has powered major leaps in drug development at Oxford and elsewhere, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are also being widely used for cheating and essay-writing. A report from the Guardian earlier this year found almost 7,000 proven cases in UK universities of cheating using AI.
