Professor Michael Wooldridge elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Michael Wooldridge, Ashall Professor of Foundations of Artificial Intelligence, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

He is one of 74 new Fellows recognised this year for exceptional contributions to engineering and technology, including Emeritus Professor Ronald Roy and Professor Andrea Vedaldi, both from the Department of Engineering Science.

Professor Wooldridge is one of founders of the field of multi-agent systems – concerned with building AI programs (‘agents’) that operate on our behalf, possibly working with other AI agents while doing so. While current popular agents - such as Siri, Alexa, and Cortana - interact only with humans, it is widely believed that in future, agents will interact with other agents. Agents that can do this will need social skills, including the ability to cooperate, coordinate, and negotiate with each other. Professor Wooldridge’s work over the past 35 years has been directed around building agents with these skills. The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT present many new opportunities for multi-agent systems, and Professor Wooldridge’s work is mainly focused around these.

Besides a prodigious scholarly output, Professor Wooldridge has significantly advanced public understanding of AI. He has written several books, gives frequent public lectures on AI, and has presented evidence on AI to multiple government committees.

Professor Wooldridge’s election to the Academy reflects the vital role that artificial intelligence and computer science play within modern engineering. Advances in these fields are shaping how we design, build, and interact with technology, with applications ranging from robotics and data science to healthcare and national infrastructure. Professor Wooldridge’s pioneering work exemplifies how fundamental research in AI can have far-reaching impact well beyond computer science itself.

I am deeply honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. For me, this recognition is not only a personal milestone, but also a testament to the growing impact of artificial intelligence. To be admitted to a community of such distinguished engineers is both humbling and inspiring, and I look forward to contributing to the Academy’s mission of promoting excellence in engineering. Professor Michael Wooldridge