Hello!

I am a social science researcher and policy analyst and I study the the social impacts of data-driven decision making systems in India, and the global south. My current work examines the ethics and social impacts of artificial intelligence; big tech and platform governance; and labor well-being in digital gig economies.

Through my research, I seek to make visible the current and future impacts of socio-technical change and draw attention to the underlying value conflicts and power asymmetries that prevent a more a equitable distribution of technology gains. I engage with businesses, civil society organizations and governments to identify pathways that better align innovation trajectories and social justice. My research has been been cited in leading national and global media publications and I have served on expert committees constituted by the Indian government on artificial intelligence and frontier technologies.

From 2017 to 2021, I was the Founder and Director of Tandem Research, an interdisciplinary research collective working at the interface of technology, society and sustainability. In 2021, I set up Digital Futures Lab, a multidisciplinary research network that investigates technology and society transitions in the global south. I am also an Associate Fellow at Chatham House and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. I have eight years of teaching experience, as a Lecturer at St. Hilda's College at the University of Oxford and as Associate Professor of International Relations at the OP Jindal Global University.

I have a MPhil and PhD from the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, University of Oxford, UK, and a BA in Philosophy and Literature from Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

I currently live in Goa with my husband and two dogs. Aside from work, I love traveling, trekking and have been practicing ashtanga yoga for over a decade.

To know more about my work, or just have a chat, please drop me a line at - urvashi[at]digitalfutureslab.in

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AI on the ground: A snapshot of AI use in India