GC REAIM Expert
Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem is a philosopher of science and technology, an AI ethics policy advisor, and a machine ethics researcher. Emma is a member of the newly convened UN Secretary General’s AI Advisory Body. She is the Chairperson of the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST). Currently, she is the Head of the Department of Philosophy, University of Pretoria, and leads the AI ethics group at the South African Centre for AI Research (CAIR). Emma led the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group that prepared the draft of the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI and contributed to development of its implementation instruments. She is a full member of the International Academy for the Philosophy of Science (AIPS). She is a member of the Global Academic Network, Centre for AI and Digital Policy, Washington DC and has worked in projects related to AI ethics with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA)-NEPAD and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR). She has membership of various international AI ethics advisory boards (e.g., WASP-HS, SAP SE), consults widely in the private sector on the ethics of emerging technologies, and is an associate editor for the Journal of Science and Engineering Ethics.
