Dr. Lorenn P. Ruster

I’m a researcher, advisor and consultant working at the intersection of responsible AI and human dignity. I research and develop responsible AI practices in and with organisations – studying what it takes to keep humanity at the centre of the systems shaping our lives.

Three experiences have shaped who I am today. In 2014, I attended Singularity University and felt both awe and deep discomfort at the future of technology – I wanted more conversations about what it meant for humans, and for those who needed it most. In 2015, as an Acumen Global Fellow working with a solar energy company in Uganda, the idea that the opposite of poverty is dignity stuck with me. And from 2013 to 2020, I was part of the team that co-created PwC’s Indigenous Consulting (now yamagigu consulting) – the first majority Indigenous-owned, staffed and managed firm in the PwC global network – where Indigenous wisdom and worldviews reshaped how I thought about technology, systems and people.

My PhD at the Australian National University’s School of Cybernetics brought these threads together. From it emerged the Dignity Lens – a practical framework for dignity-centred AI development, now published in international academic journals and embedded in the everyday operations of organisations building real AI systems.My interests and experiences span social impact, ethics, shared value, human-centred design, social innovation, systems thinking, adaptive leadership, cross-sector collaboration, international development and globally responsible leadership.

I hold a Master of Applied Cybernetics from ANU, a Master of International Management from the University of Sydney, HEC Paris and Copenhagen Business School, and a Bachelor of Science and Arts. I am a Fellow of the International Humanistic Management Association, a Non-Executive Board Director of the Accountable Futures Collective, an AI Advisor at Cube Group and a Responsible Tech Collaboration at the Centre for Public Impact.

When not thinking about AI and dignity, I can be found hiking, visiting art galleries, or travelling somewhere well off the beaten track.