Joseph Lindley

Lancaster University, Institute of Contemporary Art

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Joseph Lindley is a leading thinker in the emerging field of **design fiction** and its application to **responsible technology and AI ethics**. His foundational work, particularly the highly cited paper "Operationalising design fiction for ethical computing" (2016, 19 citations), established a rigorous methodology for using speculative storytelling to explore the ethical implications of future technologies. By crafting "diegetic prototypes"—fictional objects that exist only within story worlds—Lindley provides researchers and developers with a powerful tool to foresee and mitigate potential harms before technologies are built. His doctoral thesis, "A thesis about design fiction" (2018, 8 citations), further solidified this approach, moving design fiction from an aesthetic practice to a formal research method. More recently, Lindley has turned his attention to the practical governance of artificial intelligence. His 2024 work, "On the Standardization of Behavioral Use Clauses and Their Adoption for Responsible Licensing of AI" (2 citations), directly addresses the urgent need for tools to manage AI risks, proposing standardized licensing frameworks that restrict negligent or malicious use. Through this trajectory, Lindley bridges speculative design and real-world policy, making him a pivotal figure in shaping how we build and regulate ethical, human-centered technologies.