Professor Michael Wooldridge was awarded the EurAI Distinguished Service Award 2023 for his contributions to the field of artificial intelligence through sustained service in high-quality and wide-ranging research over the duration of his career, meaningful public engagement, and outstanding contributions to the European AI research organisation.

Michael Wooldridge is a professor of AI at the University of Oxford, where he served as Head of the Department of Computer Science from 2014-21; he is also Director for AI at the Alan Turing Institute, London. He has received multiple awards for both research and education, including in 2020, the Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society – the leading award for a UK computer scientist – and in 2021, the Outstanding Educator Award from the Association for the Advancement of AI (AAAI). From 2014-16, he was President of the European Association for AI, and from 2015-17 he was President of the International Joint Conference on AI (IJCAI); he is currently Editor-in-Chief of Artificial Intelligence, the leading journal for AI.

Wooldridge has been invited to give evidence on matters relating to AI to multiple government committees (e.g., Lords Select Committee on AI, Lords Select Committee on Science & Technology, Lords Justice & Home Affairs Committee).

As an author, he has written nine books, which have been translated nine times. His books include two popular science introductions to AI: the Ladybird Expert Guide to AI (Penguin, 2018) in the iconic British book series, and The Road to Conscious Machines (Pelican, 2020). Wooldridge gives frequent public lectures on AI (e.g., Hay Festival, Cheltenham Science Festival, Oxford Literary Festival, Henley Literary Festival) and is regularly interviewed by the press on topics around AI and technology (e.g., Australian Broadcasting Company, BBC TV Arabic Service, BBC TV News, BBC TV Politics Today, BBC Click Online, BBC R4 Today Programme, BBC R4 World Today, BBC R5 Live, BBC R5 Naked Scientist, BBC Radio London, BBC World News, Canada Broadcasting Corporation, Channel 4 News, Economist, Financial Times, The Guardian, ITN Tonight Programme, ITV News, New Statesman, The Telegraph, The Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post).