Eleanor Drage

Dr Eleanor Drage is a Cambridge academic and AI ethics expert who applies feminist and anti-racist thinking to help shape more inclusive, accountable and sustainable technologies.

Dr Eleanor Drage is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge and co-Director of the Narratives and Justice Programme at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. Her work focuses on ensuring artificial intelligence is developed and used in ways that are ethical, inclusive and accountable. Drawing on feminist and anti-racist frameworks, Eleanor explores how narratives shape technological design and use, and how these can be reimagined to better serve diverse communities.

A key part of her work involves addressing the often-overlooked ethical, social and environmental dimensions of AI. She co-developed HEAT—the world’s first free, open-access toolkit to help organisations comply with the EU AI Act. She also researches the sustainability challenges tied to AI’s material infrastructure, and actively works to dismantle myths about the neutrality and objectivity of AI systems.

Eleanor’s insights have reached wide audiences through international media. Her work has been featured by the BBC, The Guardian, Forbes, The Telegraph, Glamour Magazine, and more. She is a regular guest on radio and television, including BBC World Service, BBC Radio 3 and 4, France24 and Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ, where she discusses AI’s real-world impact and the social questions it raises.

She is the co-host of The Good Robot Podcast, which brings together leading voices in tech, ethics and academia to explore how AI could be designed and used more fairly. The podcast is ranked in the top 5% globally and has been recognised for its engaging and accessible approach to complex topics.

Eleanor has published widely on the intersections of technology, ethics and society. Her books include An Experience of the Impossible: The Planetary Humanism of European Women’s SF (2023), Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on Algorithms, Data and Intelligent Machines (2023), and The Good Robot: Feminist Voices on the Future of Technology (2024). She is also co-author of two forthcoming titles: Reprogram: Why the Tech Industry is Broken and How We Can Fix It and Apocalypse Mania: Why We Get AI Wrong – and How to Get it Right.

Alongside her research, Eleanor is a Bye-Fellow and Tutor at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where she supports students and contributes to broader university life. Through her academic work, public engagement and media presence, Eleanor is helping shape a more thoughtful, inclusive and responsible approach to technology.