Podcast: Towards a world of ethical computing and smarter robots

In this episode of the Research and Innovation Podcast, Rashik Parmar MBE, and Professor Mehmet Dogar explore advances in artificial intelligence, responsible computing, and robotics. They discuss why responsible computing is becoming urgent, the challenges of making digital systems ethical and sustainable, and the ambition to position the UK as a world-leader in this space. Mehmet shares insights from the University of Leeds Robotics Lab, including why robotics lags behind other areas of AI and how researchers are tackling complex tasks like multi-object packing and physical interaction. Together, they look ahead to what responsible, trustworthy computing and more capable robots could mean for society in the coming years. 

<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/soundcloud%253Atracks%253A2231914880&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/leedsunibschool" title="Leeds University Business School" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Leeds University Business School</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/leedsunibschool/towards-a-world-of-ethical-computing-and-smarter-robots" title="Towards a world of ethical computing and smarter robots" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Towards a world of ethical computing and smarter robots</a></div>

Both Rashik and Mehmet presented on these topics at the Leeds Digital Festival event - “The future is now: tech driving UK industry” - which was co-hosted by Leeds University Business School and the School of Computer Science.  

Mehmet’s research is supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/V052659/1] 

This episode was recorded on 8 December 2025. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. 

About the speakers: 

Rashik Parmar MBE is a member of Leeds University Business School’s Research International Advisory Board. Previously, Rashik was Group CEO of the British Computer Society (BCS), and the IBM Fellow and Vice President responsible for creating and driving IBM’s European technical strategy. Rashik is a member of the Open University Council and also chairs the Industry Advisory Board for Digit Lab. 

Professor Mehmet Dogar is Professor of Robotics & AI at the University of Leeds. His research focuses on autonomous robotic manipulation. Mehmet is an EPSRC Fellow, and an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Robotics Research, and an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Robotics. 

Related journal articles by Professor Dogar and colleagues: 

• Tracking and Control of Multiple Objects During Nonprehensile Manipulation in Clutter 
• Goal-Conditioned Model Simplification for 1-D and 2-D Deformable Object Manipulation 
• Sampling-Based Model Predictive Control for Dexterous Manipulation on a Biomimetic Tendon-Driven Hand