PhD Studentship: Understanding Trust in Moral Machines: ERC-Funded Psychology PhD Scholarship

The Topic

This PhD studentship is based in the School of Psychology at the University of Kent. The studentship is funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant fulfilled through a UKRI Horizon Guarantee awarded to Dr Jim Everett, titled "A Person-Centred Approach to Understanding Trust in Moral Machines” 

The overall aim of the ERC-funded project is to understand when, why, and how we trust AI being used in the moral domain – and whether such trust in “moral machines” is even warranted in the first place. The project is led by Dr Jim Everett, from the University of Kent’s School of Psychology, with support from Dr Edmond Awad from Exeter University. The project takes an interdisciplinary approach that combines the methods of psychology with experimental philosophy and AI ethics. Across four work-packages, we are exploring how trust in moral machines depends on the precise characteristics of characteristics of different AI agents; the individual differences of the person doing the trusting; and the situations where we are more likely to ‘outsource’ moral decisions to AI agents. By understanding this, we consider the ethical promise and pitfalls of such moral machines and how these findings should be used to design AI agents that actually warrant our trust. You can find more information about our work and approach at the Project Website: https://research.kent.ac.uk/trust-moral-machines/ 

The Team

The successful candidates will work primarily with Dr Jim Everett, alongside a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, a Project Officer, other PhD students supervised by Dr Everett, other Academic Staff, Research Assistants, and an International Advisory Board. Your primary supervisor will be Dr Jim Everett.

The PhD

You will be primarily responsible for the work package, looking at situations where we are more likely to ‘outsource’ moral decisions to AI agents. In this work-package, you will work with Dr Everett to consider the contextual, strategic and motivated way in which humans may choose to (mis)trust AI to suit their own needs, desires, and preferences, and the consequences of doing this. However, you will also work with Dr Everett and the rest of the team across all three empirical work packages. 

Key responsibilities include survey and experimental design, study pre-registration, ethics applications, data collection, data analysis, data management, and dissemination of findings in the form of conference presentations and publications in academic journals. You will also assist with other aspects of the project (e.g., coordinating the work of Research Assistants, public outreach). The students will be part of the vibrant research groups in social psychology research at the University of Kent (for more information, see: https://research.kent.ac.uk/social-psychology/.

Scholarship value

The studentship lasts three years and will cover tuition fees at the Home rate (£5,006 per annum) and will additionally provide you with an annual stipend for maintenance (£20,780 per annum in 2025-26).

The studentship guarantees coverage of fees at the Home rate, though international students are eligible to apply if they have external funding that would cover the difference between Home and Overseas Fees.

Deadline

For eligibility criteria and details on how to apply, please see the full advertisement.

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