Personal profile
Research interests
My research centers on the value alignment process in artificial intelligence, focusing on building systems that appropriately adhere to our social and moral values in both their operation and impacts. I am interested in exploring the social and technical dimensions of this challenge.
In the context of my research, our values determine our preferred state of the world and the relation between these preferences across different contexts. Technology can be argued to have a reflexive relationship with these values, both shaping and being shaped by them. Artificial intelligence is no exception, but its autonomous and opaque nature poses new challenges in understanding and controlling how our values influence its behavior and, in turn, how it affects us.
From a social perspective, my goal is to understand how the AI design process impacts human values and the effects of AI systems on the values of the humans interacting with them. I aim to use this understanding to improve the AI design process, ensuring it better reflects all stakeholder values, not just those of the developers, and to control for undesirable value impacts from the adoption of this technology.
On the technical side, I am interested in methods to represent and reason over values. Given that values are abstract concepts with complex interrelations, formalizing them in a way that is interpretable by AI systems is a significant challenge. I am exploring both mathematical structures and logic-based representations that can encode values in a way that is useful for both human users and AI systems.
My other research interests include augmented cognition (particularly for supporting cooperation and understanding), explainable AI, and AI governance.
Education/Academic qualification
Applied Mathematics, Master in Science, Modern Applications of Mathematics, University of Bath
Oct 2019 → Oct 2020
Applied Mathematics, Bachelor of Science, Mathematics and Its Applications, Cardiff University
Oct 2013 → Jun 2015
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
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SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Drivers and Influence of Social Conformity on Decision Making in Human-AI Teams.
Zhong, H., McKinlay, J., Yoon, J., O'Neill, E., Bagri, R. & Hoffmann, J., 31 Dec 2026, In: Scientific Reports. 16, 1, 20 p., 13438.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Understanding the Process of Human-AI Value Alignment
McKinlay, J., De Vos, M., Hoffmann, J. & Theodorou, A., 25 Mar 2026, In: Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research. 85, 41 p., 29.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Context Matters: Contextual Value-Based Deliberation in Water Consumption Scenarios
Oliva-Felipe, L., Lobo, I., McKinlay, J., Dignum, F., De Vos, M., Cortés, U. & Cortés, A., 2025, Value Engineering in Artificial Intelligence - 2nd International Workshop, VALE 2024, Revised Selected Papers. Osman, N. & Steels, L. (eds.). Germany: Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, p. 208-222 15 p. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; vol. 15356 LNAI).Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter in a published conference proceeding
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Towards Value Alignment for Opaque Agents Through Concept Analysis and Inter-Agent Value Modelling
McKinlay, J., 5 Jun 2024, HHAI 2024: Hybrid Human AI Systems for the Social Good - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Hybrid Human-Artificial Intelligence. Lorig, F., Tucker, J., Lindstrom, A. D., Dignum, F., Murukannaiah, P., Theodorou, A. & Yolum, P. (eds.). Netherlands: IOS Press BV, p. 386-393 8 p. (Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications; vol. 386).Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter in a published conference proceeding
Open Access
Thesis
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CAVA for Value Alignment: A Neuro-Symbolic Framework from Text to Decisions: (Alternative Format Thesis)
McKinlay, J. (Author), De Vos, M. (Supervisor), Hoffmann, J. (Supervisor) & Theodorou, A. (Supervisor), 22 Apr 2026Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › PhD
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