About AIAL

The AI Accountability Lab (AIAL) is a research lab housed in the ADAPT Research Centre and the School of Computer Science and Statistics in Trinity College Dublin. We are driven by the urgent need to demystify, critically assess, and publicly communicate the operations and functionality of AI systems by looking under the hood as well as their downstream impact on the public with the aim of shaping public knowledge, shifting power, and reserving fundamental rights, freedoms, and autonomy. The AIAL is an innovative lab at the cutting-edge of AI dedicated to greater transparency on the use of AI systems in the public domain and concrete accountability for the downstream societal impact of these technologies.

The AIAL operates under the core principle that academic research, particularly research in AI,  should be of a high-relevance and utility to the public. Thus, we actively engage and partner with local communities, civil society, and rights groups to ensure our work is grounded in real challenges and remains relevant and useful to these stakeholders. We are deeply committed to ensuring our work contributes to fostering transparency and driving a culture of AI accountability. Academic freedom and autonomy are of utmost importance to us and we take great care to ensure our lab is free from direct conflict of interest or implicit influence or pressure from the industry that we are studying. We are funded by philanthropic organisations such as the MacArthur foundation and European grants.

About the role

There is currently a growing move by governments worldwide, including the Irish government, to integrate generative AI technologies into public sector operations. However, information on the where, how, why, and when such technologies are being used remains scarce. Without this knowledge, it is difficult to understand, assess, and ensure the integrity of public services. The AIAL seeks to understand this challenge better and to conduct high-quality, high-impact research that helps uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, and equity.

To directly tackle this urgent problem, the AIAL is looking for a highly driven Post-Doctoral Researcher who can design and implement research that improves transparency and accountability regarding the use of generative AI in public services. The researcher will particularly focus on uncovering and critically examining the integration, procurement, and governance practices of generative AI in government functions and public service operations. The output of this work is expected to be a public-facing database that acts as a knowledge-base and provides transparency and critical evaluation into the use of generative AI with the aim of expanding public knowledge and feeding into regulations and standards. Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for a 2-year, in-person, full-time fixed term position as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the AIAL.

Responsibilities: 

• • Identify and map public sector organisations and government bodies that are integrating generative AI into internal as well as public-facing processes, in particular where these constitute decision making. The scope for this work will be Ireland in the initial stages
• • Identify similar initiatives with value-aligned researchers/organisations across Europe and establish collaborations with the aim of painting a fuller-picture as well as performing cross-country comparisons and analysis. The appointed candidate will be expected to establish this collaboration to share findings from Ireland and learn from other EU initiatives to develop a pan-EU analysis
• • Develop a public-facing database detailing the use of generative AI in public sectors. The database will provide key information such as modality, model version, vendor information, contractual agreements (if any), known risks, and will also facilitate information such as how it was procured, and where it is being used, for what purpose as well as any prior audits or testing done and main findings
• • Identify and analyse contractual agreements and policies regarding the procurement and use of generative AI in public services. The appointed candidate will be expected to understand the procurement system involving government bodies and technology vendors, and the means to achieve this information where it isn’t readily available – such as through freedom of information requests. The analysis of obtained information will be through the lens of relevant European regulations to identify key information and transparency, accountability and equity concerns
• • Assess the impact of generative AI in decision-making processes in government and the implications for institutional transparency, governance and accountability
• Investigate and effectively communicate existing efforts (if any) used by government bodies to inform the public on the use of generative AI in public services
• • Document, catalogue, and assess usage guidelines, standards, principles and governance instruments issued by government bodies
• • Grounded in key findings and insights from the work, drive concrete change on the ground through developing useful recommendation, effective public communication, community organisation and resource pooling, and other effective strategies

Requirements:

• • Hold a PhD in the following disciplines: computer science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, AI policy research, investigative journalism, management sciences, information systems studies, science and technology studies or cognate disciplines
• • In-depth experience and publication track-record examining governance structures, power asymmetries and EU regulations
• • Demonstrable experience in data visualisation, statistical analysis and a history of working with freedom of information (FoI) requests
• • In-depth knowledge of European legislations and regulations such as the AI Act, DSA, GDPR
• • Comprehensive knowledge (with a publication track record) of the AI audit landscape. Hands on experience with black-box auditing as well as executing qualitative and quantitative audits, particularly of generative AI
• • Self-driven, passionate, and committed to transforming institutional transparency from a theoretical concept to a concrete, operationalisable, and practical mechanism for expanding public knowledge and fostering accountability
• • Ambitious and passionate communicator who is well able to articulate transparency (lack thereof) and accountability in this domain, even when there is considerable pushback
• • Experience working with civil society organisations and community organising with a particular focus on AI transparency, accountability, equity and the rule of law

Salary Scale:

Post-Doctoral Researcher, PD2 Point 1 €54,307 to Point 4 €59,063) as per the IUA payscales. Appointment will be commensurate with qualifications and experience and in line with current Government pay policy.

Closing date: 09/12/2025

Application Process

Interested candidates can upload their application here

Informal enquiries about the role can also be sent to the email [email protected] with the subject line “AIAL GenAI in public services postdoc – Enquiry”