David Mellor

Arts-based methods; Philosophy; Social theory; Technology; Artificial Intelligence; Ethics; Justice; Smart Cities

David is a PhD student in the Centre for Dance Research working on a project about AI, smart cites, and ethics. His background is in philosophy and social theory, with interests spanning a broad range of issues, encompassing space, lines, technologies and bodies, subjectivity, ethics and justice, proximity and intimacy, solitude and gregariousness. 

David is developing a range of arts-based methods, through both individual and collaborative practices, to generate new meanings and understandings of moral questions about AI and associated technologies. Using photography, 3D printing, drawing, painting, sculpture, physical performance, and video, as well as non-standard forms of writing, David aims to explore and express emergent meanings in dialogue with critical written work on the philosophy of technology. He'll also be working in collaboration with developer communities. 

David joined Coventry University in September 2022, having previously worked as a university lecturer and researcher, and as a resources manager at the UK Research Councils. He studied BA Sociology at the University of York, has an MA Social Research Methods from Goldsmiths College, and an MA Philosophy from The Open University. His research degrees are in Sociology, from Cardiff University, and in Philosophy and Cyber Security from the University of Oxford.  

Smart Cities and AI: Supporting Ethical Development from the Bottom Up