UCL School of Management Associate Professor Angela Aristidou has been selected as a participant in the inaugural AI & Economy Researchers Programme, part of Google’s Digital Futures Project. The initiative supports researchers examining how AI is reshaping productivity, work and growth across economies.

Angela was chosen following a competitive review process, with Google citing the strength of her research program on real-world AI adoption and its potential to advance academic scholarship and inform economic policy. 

This is a world-first research programme committed to developing empirical evidence to support organisations towards effectively adopting AI tools, especially those organisations that are smaller-sized, less resourced, or less technologically-savvy. 

To support this research program, Google has generously offered a $100,000 gift in unrestricted funds, alongside a gift of $30,000 in Google Cloud credits and early access to frontier AI tools through Google Labs. The award also offers opportunities to engage directly with other leading AI researchers and participate in future global convenings. 

Commenting on the announcement, Angela said:

“It’s such an honour to be an inaugural Google AI & Economy Researcher. I’m grateful to the selection committee for this international recognition. As for Google’s support through the gifts of funding, cloud credit, and early tech access, these will act as a catalyst to significantly accelerate our research into the relationship between AI and the economy for all organisations- not only those that are more technologically savvy, better resourced, and larger.” 

The AI & Economy Researchers Programme sits within Google’s wider Digital Futures Project, which supports independent research and dialogue on the opportunities and challenges presented by AI, with a focus on governance, security and economic opportunity.