Responsible AI and dignity are the core themes that underpin everything I do.
I work in and with organisations to understand, develop and embed responsible AI practices. I study and work with organisations that are already committed to responsible practice, but stuck on how to make it real. Together we work out what responsible AI practices can and look like in their context, now and in the future. My research draws on systems thinking, engaged scholarship and visual methods to understand how organisations actually behave when building AI and what it takes to shift those behaviours toward something better.
The centrepiece of this work is the Dignity Lens — a practical framework for dignity-centred AI development, developed through my PhD at the Australian National University’s School of Cybernetics. The Dignity Lens is now published in international academic journals and embedded in the everyday operations of organisations building real AI systems. My current work extends this foundation – exploring what responsible AI practices look like across different organisational contexts, and developing the tools, approaches and resources that make dignity-centred AI possible in practice. I have interests in the following:
- Transdisciplinary engaged research, in collaboration with practitioners, policy-makers and academics
- Responsible AI in practice
- Dignity-centred AI development
- Visual and reflective practices for organizational understanding
- Cultures of innovation
- Cybernetics and systems-oriented tools and methods
If you are interested in my research or would like to collaborate, please reach out via the contact page.
You can find most of my work on my Google Scholar page and many publications are linked below.
Some highlights
Peer-Reviewed Publications (selected)
Ruster, L. P, Oliva-Altamirano, P. & Daniell, K. (2025). The Dignity Lens: advancing human-centered protective and proactive algorithmic responsibility. Information Systems Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12601
Ruster, L. P. & Daniell, K. (2025). How to Operationalize Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence. MISQ Executive. https://aisel.aisnet.org/misqe/vol24/iss2/6
Ruster, L. P. (2025). Cybernetic Lookbooks: An emerging visual approach for organizational understanding. Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change. https://doi.org/10.47061/jasc.v5i2.10308
Lamberton, C., Ruster, L. P., Ghai, S. & Saldahna, N. (2025). Counterpoint: Dignity, Properly Used, Could be a Useful Construct in AI Ethics. Patterns. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2025.101396
Seymour, M., Ruster, L. P., Riemer, K., Peter, S. & Kautz, K. (2025). The Challenges of Researching AI in IS: AI and the Boundaries for IS Research and AI in Information Systems: Ethical and Methodological Challenges – Reports and Contextualization of Two ACIS Panels. Communications of the Association of Information Systems. https://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol57/iss1/77/
Ruster, L. P. & Brown, G. (2020). Termination for Cultural Misalignment: Setting up Contract Terms to Ensure Community Well-Being in the Development of AI. International Journal of Community Wellbeing, Vol. 3, pp. 523-537.
Conference Proceedings (selected)
Ruster, L. P. (2025). Responsible AI Practices: Histories, Definitions, Barriers and Future Directions. AAAI / ACM AI Ethics & Society Conference (AIES) Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1609/aies.v8i3.36708
Ruster, L. P. & Davis, J. L. (2025). The Gaps That Never Were: Reconsidering Responsible AI’s Principle-Practice Problem. Association for Computing Machinery Fairness, Accountability and Transparency Conference proceedings (ACM FAccT). https://doi.org/10.1145/3715275.3732024
Ruster, L. P. (2023). Dignity-centred reflective practice for responsible action in technology startups: A preliminary approach. Australasian Conference of Information Systems (ACIS) 2023 Proceedings. Australasian Conference of Information Systems. https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2023/25
Ruster, L. P., Oliva-Altamirano, P., & Daniell, K. A. (2022). Centring dignity in algorithm development: Testing a Dignity Lens. Proceedings of the 34th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1145/3572921.3572938
Ruster, L. P. (2020). Scaling Dignity: An Antidote to Poverty. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference Proceedings, 1, 86. https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1111/epic.12013
Conference presentations
Ruster, L. P. (2025). Five Characterizations of Responsible AI and their Affordances. CSIRO and AIML Next Generation Responsible AI Symposium [poster presentation].
Ruster, L. P. (2025). Multi-scalar pragmatist withness inquiry for designing responsible AI practices. European Group Organization Studies Conference (EGOS)
Ruster, L. P. (2024). Integrating ethics into early-stage tech development: Reflections from co-participatory action research with AI startups. European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) and Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) conference.
Ruster, L. P. (2024). Cybernetic Lookbooks: An emerging visual approach for organizational understanding. European Group of Organization Studies (EGOS) Conference.
Ruster, L. P., & Felstead, C. (2023). The Dignity Lens in practice: The case of Robodebt. CSIRO Diversity & Inclusion in AI Symposium. https://sites.google.com/view/diaicsiro/home
Ruster, L. P. (2023). Who’s prompting whom? How startups are experimenting with generative AI to ensure actions align with values. CSIRO Diversity & Inclusion in AI Symposium. https://sites.google.com/view/diaicsiro/home
Ruster, L. P. (2023).”Being Responsible” when building GPT-powered products: cybernetic perspectives from a startup. ChatLLM23. [see video below]
Ruster, L. P. & Daniell, K. D. (2022). Centring dignity in the responsible design of human-machine collaborations: an exploration. HMC’22: Human-Machine Collaboration in a changing world. [see video below]
Ruster, L. P. & Daniell, K. D. (2022). Algorithmic Impact Assessments: A case for moving beyond mitigating harms. Social Responsibility of Algorithms Conference (SRA22). [see video below]
Asadi, A.*, Cooper, N.*, Ibrahim, M.*, Ruster, L. P.* (2022). The Multi-Level Perspective of Mobility Management During a Pandemic: Analysing the Case of the Home Quarantine South Australia App. Social Responsibility of Algorithms Conference (SRA22). [*Authors contributed equally]
Ruster, LP & Snow, T, 2021, ‘Dignity in government AI Ethics instruments’, Response-ability conference, https://response-ability.tech/programme/
Cooper, N*, Mainali, N*, Ruster, LP*, Teffera, T*, 2021, ‘Creating Intelligent Taps: Introducing a Computer Vision Prototype ‘Tappy’ for Efficient and Responsible Household Water Use’, Hydrology & Water Resources Symposium 2021, Engineers Australia. Tappy: A Tap with a Vision (Poster presentation). [*Authors contributed equally]
Whitepapers & Reports
Oliva-Altamirano, P & Ruster, LP, 2022, ‘The Ethics of automated classification: a case study using a dignity lens’, Our Community: a SmartyGrants enterprise Whitepaper, Melbourne, Australia, retrieved 22 May 2022, https://smartygrants.com.au/research/the-ethics-of-automated-classification-a-case-study-using-a-dignity-lens
Ruster, LP & Snow, T, 2021, ‘Exploring the role of dignity in government AI Ethics instruments’, Centre for Public Impact, retrieved 29 March 2021, https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/partnering-for-impact/cultivating-a-dignity-ecosystem-in-government-ai-ethics-instruments
Bell, G, Zafiroglu, Z, Assaad, Z*, Bradley, C*, Cooper, N*, O’Brien, E*, Reid, K*, Ruster, LP*, 2021, ‘Custodians and Midwives — The Library of the Future: Research and Analysis on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies’, Report prepared for The National Library of Australia [*Authors listed alphabetically]
All Tech is Human, 2020, ‘The Business Case for AI Ethics: Moving from Theory to Action’, retrieved 29 March 2021, https://www.scribd.com/document/487493539/The-Business-Case-for-AI-Ethics-Moving-From-Theory-to-Action
PwC’s Indigenous Consulting, 2018, ‘Submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission: Human Rights Technology Issues Paper’, retrieved 15 March 2021, https://tech.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/97%20-%20PwC%27s%20Indigenous%20Consulting.pdf
Podcasts
Speaking engagements
- Moderator at Humanitech Summit, Humanitech Lab: putting principles into practice (2023)
- Panellist at Spark Festival AI&U: AI and Humans – responsible, safe and ethical Artificial Intelligence (2023)
- Moderator at HMC’22: Human-Machine Collaboration in a changing world, Responsibility in Human-Machine Collaboration (2022)
- Talk at the Responsible Tech Plenary session at The Purpose Conference, On being responsible: danger zones and guiding lights (2022)
- Panellist at Spark Festival – Imagining Better Futures with Cybernetics (2022)
- Workshop designer and facilitator at Spark Festival – So you want to be ethical? Now what? (2022)
- Interviewed on Startup Daily, ausbiz TV: medtech, renewable energy & AI (2022)
- Panellist at UNSW Australian Graduate School of Management Professional Forum on AI Ethics, The Risks and Rewards of AI – making informed decisions in the era of artificial intelligence (2022)
- Panel moderator at Humanitech Summit, Strengthening Australia’s approach to frontier technologies: addressing the risks, sharing the benefits (2022)
- Panel moderator and convenor for Dignity Dilemmas, Design and Tech: Stories from the field (2021)
- Panelist on Ethical Considerations in the digital era, Pint of Science (2021)
- International Women’s Day panellist at St. Vincent’s College (2019)
- Workshop facilitator at Purpose Conference: “Systems Change Yarning Circle” (2018)