SHL Digital PhD Community Advocates
The SHL Digital PhD Community Advocates are working to develop an active and supportive PhD community by engaging with researchers, promoting discussions and offering peer support, as well as contributing to SHL Digital's workshop activities with a thematic focus around AI.
GIANNA GOULDING
is a first-year part time PhD student in Gender Studies. Her research uses a figurative methodology to analyse the female robot in contemporary culture, looking at examples from fiction and non-fiction to explore society’s evolving relationship with gender and technology. Gianna completed a Masters in Gender & Culture and an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, both from the University of Leeds. Since then, Gianna has spent 15 years working as a project manager in sustainability, higher education and social innovation strategies for AI manipulation.
SANDY DI YU
is a part-time PhD researcher in Digital Media at the ÄûÃÊÊÓƵ with a focus on the logic of optimisation as a component of digital technologies. Sandy is a co-managing editor of the CHASE-funded DiSCo Journal and has presented research at several conferences around the UK and abroad. She obtained an MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BFA Hons. in visual arts and philosophy at York University, Toronto. 
ESME STANFORD-DURKIN
is an AI ethics researcher with a background in Computer Science. Her primary research focuses on preserving autonomy in AI driven environments. She explores AI’s influence and mitigation strategies for AI manipulation. Her work is interdisciplinary, blending insights from computer science, philosophy, psychology, and other fields. She is also the founder of a responsible AI start-up, Damuno, which aims to tackle AI manipulation and improve data ownership.