Josephine SEAH

Education

Josephine Seah is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Her doctoral research investigates how interruptions—such as breakdowns, frictions, and refusals—shape the making of smart urbanism in practice. She holds an M.Sc. in Political Sociology (Distinction) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where her thesis critically examined digital resistance movements on Tumblr. Josephine also graduated with a B.Soc.Sc. (Highest Distinction) in Sociology from the National University of Singapore, where her honours thesis explored youth negotiations of belonging and citizenship among Singaporean students overseas.

Professional Appointments

Josephine is a Research Affiliate at the SMU Centre for Digital Law (CDL) and has previously served as a Research Associate at the SMU Centre for AI and Data Governance (CAIDG) from 2019 to 2021. She was also a Scholarly Publishing Fellow at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Press, where she supported the evaluation of manuscripts, managed peer review processes, and contributed to developing new book series.

In academia, Josephine teaches AI, Ethics and Law at the SMU Yong Pung How School of Law and co-lectures Artificial Intelligence, Law and Ethics, a collaborative programme organised by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and SMU. At the University of Cambridge, she has also served as an undergraduate supervisor for Control and Resistance in Digital Societies in the Department of Sociology.

Research Areas

Josephine’s research spans sociotechnical systems, infrastructure studies, responsible innovation, and the sociology of technology. Her work focuses on how digital infrastructures and smart technologies influence governance, participation, and ethics in urban contexts, particularly in Singapore.

Her recent research explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, data governance, and society—examining how technological systems interact with institutional norms and everyday practices. She is especially interested in how “interruptions” within these systems reveal underlying dynamics of power, inclusion, and accountability in the governance of smart cities.

Other Information

Josephine is the co-author of AI and Big Data: Disruptive Regulation (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023) and co-editor of Regulatory Insights on Artificial Intelligence: Research for Policy (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022). Her research has been presented at major international conferences including ACM CHI, the ASA Annual Meeting, EASST-4S, and the ISA World Congress of Sociology.

She has also published academic and policy papers through SMU’s CAIDG, including Communicating Ethics across the AI Ecosystem and The Vulnerability Project: Migrant Workers in Singapore. Beyond academia, Josephine has written for public platforms such as The Straits Times and the London Review of Books blog, contributing to public discourse on AI ethics, misinformation, and digital governance.