Dr. Eric J. W. Orlowski
AI Governance | Ethnographer | Tech PolicyResearch Fellow in AI Governance & Policy at NUS Artificial Intelligence Institute
Previously at AI SingaporePh.D. Sociocultural Anthropology, University College London
Work Profile
My Profile.
I am a specialist in emerging technologies and their societal impacts, with a Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology. I am currently a policy-focused research fellow with NUS Artificial Intelligence Institute's (NAII) AI Governance & Policy team, where I lead research efforts in AI policy and practical AI governance. I previously held a research fellowship at AI Singapore.My expertise lies in understanding the individual and collective implications of new technologies through a human-centric approach. Throughout my career, I have consistently focused on the intersections between technology and society, researching the impacts of emerging technologies since 2018.
Current positions
I am involved in a number of different initiatives. Beyond my primary research fellowship at NUS, I am also:
Affiliated Researcher at Centre for Computational Social Science and Humanities (CSSH), National University of Singapore.
Vetted Consultant, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Affiliated Researcher at the Department of Anthropology, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
Consultant, the Centre for AI Leadership (C4AIL).
I also have an ongoing working relationship with AI Sweden and Malaysia's National AI Office (NAIO), in the capacity of my previous positions as:
Member of Interdisciplinary Expert Group (AI Sweden).
Member and Editor of High Level Working Group in AI Governance (NAIO).
I'm always open to new and exciting work and opportunities. Never hesitate to contact me for projects, collaborations, or anything in-between!
Active & Previous projects
Publications & Projects.
As an academic, I continuously produce new and exciting work within the science-technology-society space. My writing both takes the shape of peer-reviewed articles, and more informal blog posts.
Much of my non-academic work brings me into the realm of report-writing and presentations. These are usually more policy-focused.
Current projects
Much of my work and active projects are focusing on the social and cultural impact of artificial intelligence. This work falls into four primary categories:
Foundational Research: Over the past two years, I have been leading research into cultural alignment for AI systems, primarily focusing on developing methodologies and best practices for developers and engineers working in this space.
Social Research: I have always been interested in the social dimensions of technology, so I have been embedding myself in Singapore's 'AI ecosystem' to understand how these communities grow, behave, and change over time.
Policy Research: Ongoing policy research from AI Singapore has carried over to my work at NAII, where we continue to work to build research and policy networks across Southeast and East Asia.
Collaborative Research: I am currently involved in two collaborative research projects, one on governance-by-design in AI systems with researchers from AI Sweden, and another on AI sovereignty with researchers from Korea AISI.
Ph.D. work and thesis.
My Ph.D. -project focused on unpacking perceptions of techno-optimism and techno-utopianism in Sweden. The thesis is based 18 months' fieldwork in Sweden. I bring a lot of this work with me into my research in Singapore.
The thesis covers three main domains:
The impact that social and political history has on the contemporary perception of technology.
How technological development has become a goal in itself.
The different ways in which 'technology' is understood and conceptualised by different actors.
The thesis was successfully defended in September 2024. It is currently not publicly available.
I have been working with Palgrave MacMillan to rework and publish my thesis as a book, as part of their Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and its successors book series.
The book will be published under the title New Technologies for Untold Futures: Techno-Utopianism and Everyday Practice in Sweden, and is espected to be published later in 2026.
List of publications & projects
For a list of publications, projects, and other relevant engagement, please follow the link below:
Keep up with my work!
Follow my informal writing and publications on my companion blog Ready Aim Inquire!.The blog works as both a repository of my non-peer reviewed writing, as well as a peek into the kind of work I am currently undertaking.Ready Aim Inquire! holds both original publications for that blog, as well as re-posts of work I have published elsewhere.
