Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming various aspects of behavioural science. For example, AI-driven models are being used to predict human behaviour and decision-making, and to design personalized behavioural interventions. AI can also be used to generate artificial research participants on whom behavioural interventions can be tested instead of on humans. AI is creating many new opportunities and challenges in behavioural science, disrupting the discipline to the degree that researchers, practitioners, and any behavioural science enthusiasts are trying to keep up with the new developments and understand how to best navigate the rapidly changing landscape.

In this public event, speakers who are associated with pioneering work on AI in relation to behavioural science, as part of their own research or organisational initiatives, will discuss their views on how AI will change and is already changing behavioural science. This will involve touching upon topics such as the implications of AI for behavioural scientists in academia, public, and private sectors, new skills that will be required by behavioural scientists of the future, and impact on behavioural science education.

Meet our speakers and chair

Alexandra Chesterfield (@alxchesterfield) is a behavioural risk expert, author of Poles Apart, and a PhD student at the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, LSE. She has spent the past 15 years establishing and leading Behavioural Science teams to drive better outcomes in both regulatory and commerical contexts. Currently, she leads the Behavioural Risk team at NatWest Group, where her team's innovative work in transforming Internal Audit has been featured in Forbes (Eccles, 2022).

Elisabeth Costa (@Lis_Costa_) is the Managing Director of the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) in the UK. An expert in economic policy and digital markets, she joined the BIT in 2015, developing flagship programmes and leading numerous trials. She has co-authored papers on various topics including consumer decision making and the behavioural economy. Elisabeth contributes to policy discussions on digital markets and consumer vulnerability. She previously held senior roles at the Australian Treasury.

Oliver Hauser is Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and interim Co-Director of the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Exeter Business School and Faculty Affiliate at Harvard University's Sustainability, Transparency and Accountability Research Initiative. He conducts research on inequality and cooperation in three main domains: organisations, society and the environment.

Dario Krpan (@DarioKrps11) is Assistant Professor of Behavioural Science at LSE. His research focuses on understanding how disruptive societal trends and events, including the technological revolution and climate crisis, impact and transform human behaviour. He is a proponent of multidisciplinary research and is interested in combining methodologies and theoretical approaches from various sciences with psychology to answer the research questions that interest him.

Susan Michie (@SusanMichie) is a distinguished British psychologist, renowned for her expertise in health psychology and behaviour change. She is famous for creating the Behaviour Change Wheel, a framework for designing behaviour change interventions. Professor Michie directs UCL's Centre for Behaviour Change and has contributed significantly to public health, including as a member of the UK Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). She is also a fellow of the British Academy.

Robert West (@robertjwest) is a distinguished health psychologist, advisor to Public Health Wales and various other policy bodies, and former Editor-in-Chief of the journal Addiction. He has made significant contributions to the study of smoking cessation and addiction. West has authored numerous influential papers and books, including the development of the PRIME theory of motivation. His work has had a profound impact on public health policies and interventions worldwide.

Liam Delaney (@LiamDelaney2020) is Professor and Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. His career spans economics, psychology, and public policy. From 2017-2020, he was Professor of Economics at University College Dublin, leading the MSc in Behavioural Economics and Geary Institute Experimental Lab. He previously led Stirling's Behavioural Science Centre. A Fulbright Fellow at Princeton and MSCA fellow, he has published extensively on mental health and economic outcomes and developed a widely used framework for integrating ethical considerations into behavioural science applications. 

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (@LSE_PBS) is a growing community of researchers, intellectuals, and students who investigate the human mind and behaviour in a societal context. Our department conducts cutting-edge psychological and behavioural research that is both based in and applied to the real world.

The Data Science Institute (@LSEDataScience) is an interdisciplinary institute established to foster the study of data science and new forms of data with a focus on their social, economic and political aspects.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEEvents

Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Google DeepMind via Pexels