Merve Hickok is the founder of AIethicist.org . She is a globally renowned expert on AI policy, ethics and governance. Her contributions and perspective have featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, CNN, Forbes, Bloomberg, Wired, Scientific American, The Atlantic, Politico, Protocol, Vox, The Economist and S&P.

Her work focuses on impact of AI systems on individuals and society - particularly on the impact on fundamental rights, democratic values, and social justice.

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Merve is the President and Research Director at Center for AI & Digital Policy (CAIDP), deeply engaged in global AI policy and regulatory work. CAIDP educates AI policy practitioners and advocates across 80+ countries, and advises international organizations (such as European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, OECD). Merve is a policy expert, with testimony to the US Congress, State of California, New York City and Detroit City councils. She provides expert input to the Council of Europe Committee on AI for the upcoming AI convention, as well as EU AI Act.

At University of Michigan, she is the data ethics lecturer at School of Information, the Responsible Data and AI Advisor at Michigan Institute for Data Science, and an affiliated faculty at Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy (Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program).

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Merve also works with several non-profit organizations globally to advance both the academic and professional research in this field for underrepresented groups. She has been recognized by a number of organizations - most recently with Lifetime Achievement Award - Women in AI of the Year - 2023, as Runner-up for Responsible AI Leader of the Year - 2022 (Women in AI) and as one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™ – 2021.

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She provides consultancy and training to C-suite leaders, and public and private organizations on Responsible AI development, due diligence and governance.

Previously, Merve held various senior roles in Fortune 100 companies for more than 15 years.

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