Professor Keeley Crockett

My profile

Biography

Keeley Crockett SMIEEE SFHEA is a Professor in Computational Intelligence at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee SHIELD (Ethical, Legal, Social, Environmental and Human Dimensions of AI/CI).  She gained a BSc Degree (Hons) in Computation from UMIST (1993), and a PhD in Fuzzy Decision Trees from MMU (1998). She currently leads the Machine Intelligence and Data and AI Ethics themes in the Centre for Advanced Computational Science.  Her research interests include the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI), fuzzy systems, psychological profiling using AI, fuzzy natural language processing, semantic similarity, conversational agents and intelligent tutoring systems.

Keeley has led work on Place based practical Artificial Intelligence, facilitating a parliamentary inquiry with Policy Connect and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics (APGDA), leading to the inquiry report “Our Place Our Data: Involving Local People in Data and AI-Based Recovery”. She obtained STRENGTH IN PLACES POLICY funded engagement work with Greater Manchester businesses on “SME Readiness for Adoption of Ethical Approaches to AI Development and Deployment” and has contributed to the recent APGDA inquiry An Ethical AI Future: Guardrails & Catalysts to make Artificial Intelligence a Force for Good.

Keeley was appointed to the UKRI’s AI & Robotics Strategic Advisory Team (SAT) on 1st April 2024.

 She has obtained a number of research grants, including two EU Horizon 2020 grants and was a CO-I on The Alan Turing Institute, People-powered AI: responsible research and innovation through community ideation and involvement Grant (Research: Greater Manchester People’s Panel for AI | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk)).  She is currently, the PI on the EPSRC Grant – “PEAs in Pods: Co-production of community based public engagement for data and AI research.”, and a Co-I on the new Peoples Panel for AI in Greater Manchester funded by Manchester City Council’s Digital Strategy Team - find out more here 

Keeley is passionate about working with citizens, businesses in the private and public sector, charities and not-for-profits. 

She was the co-academic co-lead in the ERDF £6m GM Artificial Intelligence Foundry  and is Co-Lead for AI for the Centre for Digital Innovation (CDI).

Keeley is currently PI on UK KTPs with My First Five Years and CI  on a new KTP  with COUCH (starting in 2023). She has previously undertaken KTPs with Service Power, Access Pay and The Insights Family of which she has previously joined the Expert Advisory Board

 She is also  an International Collaborator on COMPRIMISE 2021 – 2024: Enhancing COMmunication PROtocols with Machine Learning while Protecting SEnsitive Data, MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACIÓN, SPAIN,

She has developed \ collaboration with ICO and Turing  and convened two workshops with SME’s and Local authorities in Greater Manchester to evaluate the ‘Explaining decisions made with Artificial Intelligence’ guidance with Regional SME’s / LA; Linked outputs: 2022 Project Explain Next Phase.

In 2021, she contributed to the Framework for Global implementation for Purpose-driven Accountable Intelligent Systems - Accountable Innovation & Public Intelligence (see our documentary) with Sherin Mathews (AI Tech North). She is currently a member of the AI Tech UK Smart Ethics Advisory Board. 

She is the current Chair of the IEEE Task Force on Ethical and Social Implications of Computational Intelligence, Chair of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Diversity and Inclusion subcommittee, and Co-chair of the IEEE Women in Engineering Educational Outreach. Keeley serves as an Associate Editor  on the IEEE Trans. Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence, IEEE Trans. Artificial intelligence, IEEE Trans. on Fuzzy systems, and IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine. She was the General Co-chair for IEEE SSCI 2021 – IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence, the Co-Chair of the IEEE Symposium Ethical, Social and Legal Implications of Artificial Intelligence (IEEE ETHAI) – IEEE SSCI 2021, IEEE SSCI 2022 and IEEE SSCI 2023. She will be technical Co-Chair at IEEE FUZZ 2024 (IEEE WCCI 2024) Japan.

She has co-organized 15 special sessions, 4 workshops and authored over 130 peer reviewed publications and has co-authored 3 international textbooks in database systems.  She has supervised 28 PhDs to completion and has externally examined 14 PhDs in the UK, and internationally.

Keeley  lives in the Yorkshire Dales National Park with her husband and 15 year old son.  She is  very passionate at volunteering which includes  national and international work for the IEEE and as a UK STEM Ambassador. She  addicted to volcanoes and has spent many happy trips hiking in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Finally, she is one of the few individuals to hold a Disney Spirit Award… How? Why? you may ask? Well that’s another story!

Academic and professional qualifications

Academic

  • 1998 PhD Fuzzy Rule Induction From Data Sets, Manchester Metropolitan University
  • 1993 BSc(Hon) Computation University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST)

Professional

  • 2020 AdvanceHE Professional Development Course for External Examiners
  • 2016 Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • 2008 Institute of Line Management Level 5 Diploma for Professional Management Coaches and Mentors
  • 2008 Institute of Line Management Level 3 Certificate in First Line Management
  • 2000 Post Graduate Certificate in Education Further and Higher Education, University of Huddersfield

Selection of Recent Keynotes / Invited Talks / Panels

IEEE Volunteer Service Roles

Current Roles

Other academic service (administration and management)

  • Department of Computing and Maths Early Career Researchers representative 

Impact

Upcoming invited talks

“Empowering AI with Human Insight: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities in Responsible, Trustworthy, and Participatory AI Development” 2025 IEEE SSCI - Trondheim, Norway (ieee-ssci.org)

Selected Recent Invited Talks

Projects

Current Research Projects 

PI  - EPSRC standard Grant – “PUBLIC  ENGAGEMENT - PEAs in Pods: Co-production of community based public engagement for data and AI research.” (3-yrs, start-date September  2022).

CI- Manchester’s People Panel for AI, Manchester City Council, 2024

Academic Co-Lead - AI Pathway (MMU) About CDI - Centre for Digital Innovation

Current Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

CI - Innovate UK KTP, Greater Manchester Combiner Authority - awarded and recruiting (updated September 2024)

PI - Innovate UK KTP – My First 5 Years, (2-yrs, £176k, start-date September 2022).

CI- Innovate UK KTP - COUCH (2-years, £500k, awarded September 2023)

International Collaborator on COMPRIMISE 2021 – 2024: Enhancing COMmunication PROtocols with Machine Learning while Protecting SEnsitive Data, MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACIÓN, SPAIN, University of Vigo (PI), (550k Euros).

Recent Projects

Academic Co-Lead MMU ERDF £6m GM Artificial Intelligence Foundry

CI -  The Alan Turing Institute, People-powered AI: responsible research and innovation through community ideation and involvement Grant. (2022) - for more information see here - Research: Greater Manchester People’s Panel for AI | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk)

PI - Innovate UK KTP The Insights People (2-yrs, £201k, Sept 2020 - January 2023)

Teaching

Subject areas

Data Science / Ethics / Artificial Intelligence / Data Engineering / Database Systems

Courses and Units

  • MSc Data Management and Governance 
  • MSc The Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence
  • BSc Level 6 Data Goverance and Management
  • TS5 Data Analytics Project
  • BSC and MSC final year projects

External examiner roles

Current Roles
  • 2020 - 2024 External Examiner De Montfort University, MSc AI, Robotics and Intelligent systems
  • 2022 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy, University of Portsmouth
  • 2022 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy, University of Kent
  • 2022 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy, THAPAR INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, India
Previous Roles
  • 2022 - PhD external Habilitation Professor Défense at STUBA university, Slovakia
  • 2022 -  PhD external examiner Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University
  • Undergraduate / postgraduate External Examiner at Bradford University
  • Undergraduate / postgraduate External Examiner at Middlesex University of London ( Ends September 2019)
  • 2018 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy, Queen Marys  University of London
  • 2018 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy, London Metropolitan University
  • 2017 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy, De Montfort University
  • 2017 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy, Salford University
  • 2016 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy, Birmingham University
  • 2013 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy for University of Ulster
  • 2013 - External Examiner for Doctor of Philosophy for University of Manchester.
  • 2013 - External Examiner for  Doctor of Philosophy for University of Grenada, 2012
  • 2008 - 2011 External Examiner Lancaster University (Blackpool and Fylde College)

Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Mr Michael Wier
  • Ms Ngozi Nneke

PhD completions 

  • Dr Naomi Adel -  Fuzzy Natural Language Similarity Measures Through Computing With Words
  • Dr Lewis Evans - A Smart Data Ecosystem for the Monitoring of Financial Market Irregularities
  • Dr Luke Abberly - Conceptualising the Multifaceted Nature of the Real-World Problem Known as Urban Road Congestion and the Events That Causes It
  • Dr Noufa Alnajran - An Integrated Semantic-Based Framework for Intelligent Similarity Measurement and Clustering of Microblogging Posts
  • Dr Collette Curry - Betty - Do you remember me? 
  • Dr Sumaji Aljameel
  • Dr Mike Holmes
  • Dr Claire Little
  • Dr Pei-Shyuan Lee - Financial Crimes Analysis and Detection
  • Dr Khurim Shabaz - Convesational natural language interface to relational datbases
  • Dr Amy Khalfay - Studying the performance of local operators in technician and task scheduling problems
  • Dr Fiona Buckingham - Profiling comprehension using non-verbal behaviours
  • Dr Mohammed Kaleem - Urdu Conversational Agents 
  • Dr Faaza Amarsoori -Arabic  short text similarity
  • Dr Zaid Noori - Arabic goal-oriented conversational agents
  • Dr Omar Alobaidi
  • Dr Kurkit Osathanunkul
  • Dr David Chandran - FAST - Fuzzy semantic similarity measures using type-1 fuzzy set
  • Dr Abdelrahman Abuarqoub
  • Dr Fathi Gasir - ELGASIR Fuzzy CART trees with Immune System Optimiation
  • Dr Annabel Latham - OSCAR - a conversational agent intelligent tutoring system
  • Dr Mohammed Hijjawi 
  • Dr Karen, O’Shea - Semantic similarity for conversational agents
  • Dr James O’Shea - 
  • Dr Majdi Owda - Natural Language Interfaces to Relational Databases
  • Dr Aibrahim Aldeeb
  • Dr Jay Fowdar - Fuzzy Chaid decision trees

Research outputs

Research Expertise in Data and Artificial Intelligence Ethics

My research and associated engagement activity includes:

  • analysis of ethical AI frameworks, regulation and toolkits
  • bridging the ethics “practice gap” in SMEs
  • ethical AI skills analysis and training for SME employees
  • Interdisciplinary research with technologists, data scientists, legal and social sciences 
  • public engagement with data science and AI research, innovation and ethics
  • fostering sustained interaction between traditionally marginalised communities and AI researchers through co-production
  • citizen-led data and AI R&D
  • engagement in regional and national data and AI strategy and policy development

My activity in this field is also contributing to research-led teaching. Computer science undergraduates and postgraduates on our Artificial Intelligence MSc course all participate in learning on AI ethics based on our work.

Research expertise in Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

  • H2020 Intelligent SMART Border Control (iBorderCtrl)
  • H2020 Populism and Civic Engagement” (PaCE)
  • Physiological Profiling with Artificial Intelligence
  • FATHOM for Comprehension Detection
  • Hendrix: Comprehension Detection and Adaptation in Intelligent Tutoring Systems
  • Fuzzy Systems and Fuzzy Decision Trees
  • Computing with Words and Type-2 Fuzzy Applications in the area of semantic similarity
  • Hybrid Intelligent Systems
  • Conversational Agents and goal-orientated systems
  • Intelligent Tutoring Systems Multi-lingual - Arabic ~(MSA/Traditional), Thai, Urdu Multi-Modal Systems
  • Natural Language Interfaces to Databases
  • Short Text Word and Semantic Sentence Similarity Measures  (Multi-lingual)
  • Data Mining Social Media Big Data
  • Congestion modelling in Transport Networks using Fuzzy Systems

Selected Publications since January 2021

Academic collaborations

  • Prof. Ana Fernandez Vilas,  I & C Lab | University of Vigo, Spain

Press and media

Computer Weekly Most influential women in UK tech: The 2024 longlist, Most influential women in UK tech: The 2024 longlist | Computer Weekly

Computer Weekly Most influential women in UK tech 2023 - Most influential women in UK tech: The 2023 longlist | Computer Weekly

Computer Weekly Most influential women in UK tech 2022: - Most influential women in UK tech: The 2022 longlist | Computer Weekly

Computer Weekly Most influential women in UK tech 2021: Most Influential Women in UK Tech: The 2021 longlist | Computer Weekly

Computer Weekly Most influential women in UK tech 2020: Most Influential Women in UK Tech: The 2020 longlist | Computer Weekly

Media Article - Humanising Trust in the Age of AI - https://www.manlitphil.ac.uk/read-watch-listen/humanising-trust-in-the-age-of-ai/ (April 2024)

Media Article - The Engineer - Comment: Building a sustainable pipeline of female talent | The Engineer The Engineer, Feb-2022

Media Article – IEEE Impact Creators, 21-Nov-2021, Keeley Crockett (ieee.org)

Media Article - Inspirational Woman: Keeley Crockett | IEEE Member & Professor in Computational Intelligence, Manchester Metropolitan University, WeAreTechWomen, Jul-2021

Media Article – AI and Diversity, Capacity Magazine, Jun-2021, AI and the issue of diversity | Capacity Media

Media Article - The importance of women in STEM post-pandemic, WeAreTechWomen, Jun-2021

The Guardian podcast, “Can we trust AI  lie detectors? Chips with Everything podcast”, Available: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/audio/2018/nov/23/can-we-trust-ai-lie-detectors-chips-with-everything-podcast, November 2018

Can you fool a lie detector? Manchester Evening News interview, 27/10/2018, [online] available: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/lie-detector-test-border-control-15319641

Why data centres are essential to the success of UK plc by Ben Rooth, Manchester Evening News interview, 4/10/2018, [online] available: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/data-centres-essential-success-uk-15235544

Concerns over how new privacy rules protect us by Lucy Roue - interview, Manchester Evening News interview, 27/10/2018, [online] available: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/concerns-over-how-new-privacy-11240649