Dr. Milagros Miceli is a leading researcher and critical voice in the field of artificial intelligence. She currently serves as Research Lead at the Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute, Director of the Data, Algorithmic Systems, and Ethics research group at the Weizenbaum Institute, and lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin. Her research focuses on the social, political, and ethical dimensions of AI, with particular attention to the invisible labor and power asymmetries embedded in the creation of machine learning datasets.

Dr. Miceli is the Principal Investigator of the research project Data Workers’ Inquiry, an innovative initiative that empowers data workers to conduct worker-led research on their own labor conditions. Through this project, she explores how global data supply chains shape the production of “ground truth” data and how inequalities in outsourced data work impact algorithmic outcomes. The project has received major international recognition for its methodology and for bringing visibility to the human labor sustaining the AI industry.

Dr. Miceli’s academic background spans multiple disciplines. She earned her PhD in Computer Science (summa cum laude) from the Technical University of Berlin. She also holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Humboldt University of Berlin and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Arts, Berlin. Earlier in her career, she studied Sociology and Communication Science at the University of Buenos Aires.

Dr. Miceli’s scholarly contributions combine Critical Data Studies, Sociology of Technology, Labor Sociology, and Human-Computer Interaction, bridging technical and social research traditions. She has authored multiple award-winning papers. Her leadership has attracted significant research funding from institutions including the Ford Foundation, European Parliament, and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Her influence extends beyond academia: Dr. Miceli’s work has informed policy in Europe and beyond, and she is often consulted and invited to testify in parliamentary discussions. She was named among TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI (2025) and 100 Brilliant Minds of Berlin, recognizing her as a pioneer in advancing ethical, worker-centered perspectives on AI.