About me

Michelle Seng Ah Lee is a Ph.D. candidate at the Dept. of Computer Science & Technology in the Compliant and Accountable Systems group, supervised by Jat Singh and Jon Crowcroft.

Her research focuses on fairness, bias, and discrimination in machine learning algorithms and their trade-offs on aggregate and individual levels.

Michelle holds an MSc in Social Data Science from the Oxford Internet Institute, where she was a part of the Digital Ethics Lab. She completed her undergraduate degree at Stanford University.

After submitting her Ph.D. thesis, Michelle returned to her role as a Senior Manager in Risk Analytics at Deloitte UK, specialising in designing the enterprise AI ethics framework and controls library for financial services.

Michelle is an active volunteer and former UK Chapter Lead at DataKind, a pro bono data science charity.

Affiliations

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

2019-2022 (expected)

Ph.D. Candidate in the Compliant and Accountable Systems Research Group. Research funded by Aviva Plc.

The alan turing institute

October 2020 – December 2021

Ph.D. Enrichment Scheme, 2020/2021 cohort. Engage@Turing student representative

DELOITTE UK

2014 – present

Senior Manager leading AI Ethics offerings. Currently working part-time (1 day per week) under their Flexible Working Scheme

Datakind UK

2014 – present

Former UK Chapter Lead. Currently sitting on the Ethics Committee


education

BA with Research Honors

2010-2014

Political Science and Symbolic Systems (concentration: Decision-Making and Rationality)

Thesis

The Effect of Military Intervention on Regime Type: How Methodological Differences in Case Selection and Counterfactual Calculation Drive the Results

MSc with Distinction

2018-2019

Social Data Science, Oxford Internet Institute. Research Assistant @ Digital Ethics Lab

Thesis

Algorithmic fairness in mortgage lending: from absolute conditions to relational trade-offs

PhD

2019 – present

Computer Science and Technology

Thesis

Context-conscious fairness throughout a machine learning development lifecycle


leadership

  • Editorial Board Member, AI & Ethics Journal, Springer 2020-now
  • Sponsorship Director, Executive Committee, OxfordHack 2018
  • UK Chapter Lead, DataKind 2018-2019
  • London Ambassador, Women in Data Science 2017
  • Founder & Head, Stanford Wine Circle UK 2017-present
  • Founding member & operating committee, Stanford Angels UK, 2018

interests

  • Cambridge University Blind Wine Tasting Team. Competed and won in Varsity Match against Oxford in 2022. Participated in global competitions (Agro, Etiquette, etc.) Documentary link
  • Completed 6 marathons (Paris 2019, Médoc 2016/2017/2018/2019/2022)
  • Rower (bow) on the women’s team @ Lady Margaret Boat Club, St. John’s College
  • Sommelier with experience in leading blind tasting lectures and seminars
  • Certified French Wine Scholar (FWS), Wine Scholar Guild & French Department of Agriculture
  • Classical cellist, formerly in a chamber music group at Longy School of Music (MA, USA)
  • Recreational skier and golfer

Languages

programming

Java • C++ • Python • Scala • R • Apache Spark • Apache Cassandra • MS SQL • IBM Watson • Alteryx • Qlikview • Tableau

natural

Korean, English, Spanish, French, Modern Standard Arabic, Mandarin Chinese