About the author

Rod Rivers

A friend of mine once described me as a middle class pompous git (which she abbreviated to MCPG as it was referred to frequently in conversation). I have to admit that is probably the most informative description you are likely to get. People think of me as white (despite actually being mixed race) and male, but ‘Middle class’ is approximately where I started, and will finish. The rest just follows from this stereotype.

She also said of me that I behaved something like a dog. I sniff around things and get absorbed in them, until something else walks passed and I get distracted and follow that for a while, until something else walks passed … (I would just like to re-assure my wife at this point that this does’t apply to everything).

I hope this is not all quite as bad as it sounds and if you read my blog posts and articles you may conclude that my heart is in the right place and that I am, in fact, quite consistent in my interests and persistent in my work.

Anyway, this astute observer of my antics is still a good friend. My redeeming quality is that I take no personal offence whatsoever at her (mainly playful) comments – that’s part of being a MCPG. Whatever I am, I couldn’t help it that much – it’s my birthright (and one I am grateful for, at that). And there is something re-assuring in knowing that I can accept its truth without it causing damage. I like to think that it demonstrates a psychological security that not everybody has.

The point in telling you this, is that in order to assess what I am saying on this website, you have the right (if you want it) to understand where I am coming from – and that is a place of comfortable privilege (well, its not always been either comfortable or privileged – there have been moments but MCPG is the baseline). I have the privilege, unlike many people, to sit back and wonder. I can be independent of political and commercial interests. I can afford not to be so absorbed in everyday things that my thoughts are dominated by them. Like the Pope, I can pontificate. And you, should you be interested in sniffing around the same subjects, will no doubt view it all through your own lens, but at least I have warned you about my potential bias.

Here is my original account of myself (which now seems remarkably inadequate and, in parts, out of date) …

Rod Rivers did undergraduate courses in economics and psychology and has a MSc in Psychology of Education from the Institute of Education, University of London. In 1984 he wrote ‘Expert 4’, an artificial intelligence program based on psychological theories of category and concept formation, that could infer ‘missing values’ from surrounding data. [Update: I like to think of this now as an early demonstration of the technology now used in Large Language Models].

He has several publications in the area of user centred design and spent 15 years working in information technology for Logica in Cambridge, building up one of Europe’s largest teams of experts in human computer interaction.

He worked for eight years at the University of Cambridge, managing a large-scale collaborative project between universities in the East of England to deliver services to business. For four years he worked for the NHS defining strategy, participating in governance and designing systems to deliver online services to users. He is currently developing www.robotethics.co.uk , pulling together resources and guidance for developers of robotic and artificial intelligence systems. [Update: This website is still relevant but now rarely updated while I focus on writing ‘Good Manners for Robots’ – containing some of the most important insights of our time – ha, ha).

His primary interest is in the application of knowledge from social sciences to the design of artefacts, systems and organisations. One of his current activities is as liaison officer for Cambridge University Science and Policy Exchange (CUSPE) which provides an opportunity to engage with professional bodies and think tanks in the UK. [Update: that was ages ago. I’ve been retired and drawing a pension for 10 years).

Rod lives in Cambridge and has two sons in their teens whose conversation and company he enjoys immensely. [Update: I have moved twice since then and my two sons, now in their mid-twenties, are about the only thing that maintain my credibility as a good person]. He is a keen documenter and has several hundred hours of recorded conversations with various people collected over more than 30 years [Update: most of which now begin ‘your call is important to us’].