Sebastián Lehuedé

Technology & Social Justice

About

Career

I currently work as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Ethics, AI and Society in the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London. You can access my KCL web profile here.

Previously, I worked as a postdoc at the Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR), University of Cambridge (2021-2023).

I obtained a PhD in Networks, Data and Society from the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), in 2021. My doctoral thesis received the 2022 Dissertation Award from the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR).

Expertise

My research examines digital technologies from a social and environmental justice perspective. My primary aim is to centre the needs and visions of groups excluded from the design, development and governance of technology.

My current project, AI’s Nature, explores the connection between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and climate justice. In this work, I have engaged with urban, peasant and Indigenous communities in Chile and Colombia mobilising against a data centre project and lithium extraction and participating in a AI-supported conservation initiative.

My previous project, Scientific Data Colonialism, investigated the governance of astronomy data in Chile. For this, I proposed a framework based on autonomía that addresses the limitations of open data and data sovereignty.

My work combines decolonial thought, science and technology studies (STS) and political ecology. I have contributed to conceptual development on AI ethics, digital colonialism, data friction and digital sovereignty. I employ ethnographic methods with an empirical focus on Latin America.

I have organised the following conferences and workshops:

Affiliations

I am a member of the Tierra Común network of activists and researchers based in Europe, Latin America and other regions. This group draws inspiration from decolonial praxis to critically engage with digital technologies.

Since 2024, I have been part of the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE). This is a Switzerland-based independent and global science organisation that provides scientific knowledge about the health of the world’s information environment.

At the University of Cambridge, I am affiliated with the Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR) and the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy (MCTD).

Previously, I was a Technology and Human Rights fellow at the Carr Center, Harvard University (2022-2024). I was also affiliated with the Future of Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) group formed by three Chilean universities (2022-2024).

Teaching

I have taught at King’s College London, University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

I have designed two modules to date:

  • Technology and Global Social Justice at the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), University of Cambridge (syllabus available here).
  • At King’s College London, I co-designed the module Media, Technology and the Environment with Dr Güneş Tavmen.

I am an Associate Fellow at AdvanceHE, a UK-based charity that works to improve higher education for staff, students and society.