Martin Cunneen

Dr. Martin Cunneen’s research examines the societal implications of machine intelligence, spanning data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, language theory, and robotics. His work focuses on how governance can be designed and implemented in a timely, evidence-informed manner to guide and regulate the commercial deployment of these technologies.

Drawing on extensive experience in the technology sector, including sustainable technology initiatives, educational technology, community programming, and big data, Dr. Cunneen explores the complex relationships between society and AI-enabled systems. A core strand of his research is the development of practical frameworks that support multi-stakeholder engagement in the identification, assessment, and management of socio-technical risk and ethical challenges.

His research is grounded in a strong academic foundation, complemented by substantial teaching experience in applied ethics, analytical philosophy, and the philosophy of artificial intelligence and technology governance. He has established international collaborations through large research consortia, including Science Foundation Ireland and European Union Horizon projects. His approach is explicitly interdisciplinary, integrating technical and social-scientific perspectives to address both commercial opportunity and societal risk in AI and data-driven innovation.

Dr. Cunneen leads the University of Limerick AI-ERA (Ethics, Regulation and Accountability) Research Group.

Current research projects

Since 2024, Dr. Cunneen has secured €1.6 million in funding across five projects crossing European (Horizon Europe), National (Research Ireland) and Industry Funding:

• AI-CARE: Principal Investigator on this four-year, industry-led collaboration launching in January 2026, backed by over €500,000 in funding. The programme will support five PhD researchers and develop innovative models and real-world applications across artificial intelligence, digital twins, and extended reality.

• XTREME: Principal Investigator at the University of Limerick on the Horizon Europe 2024 project XTREME: Mixed Reality Environment for Immersive Experience of Art and Culture, and lead of UL’s XTREME Mixed Reality Research Living Lab.

• AI-MINDS: Principal Investigator on the LERO project AI-MINDS (AI–Multi-modal Immersive Nextgen-Agentic Dialogue Synths).

• Motiverse-P: Co-Principal Investigator on the EU Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, focusing on Parkinson’s therapeutics and mixed reality.

• Somabotics (Turing Fellowship collaboration): Supporting partner on Professor Steve Benford’s UK Turing Fellowship project Somabotics: Creatively Embodying Artificial Intelligence, contributing research on the philosophy of AI, AI and art, agency, sense-making, and meaning.

Research supervision

Dr. Cunneen currently supervises seven PhD candidates and seven MSc students. Their dissertation topics span seven thematic areas:

1. AI and data governance

Research in this area develops context-sensitive governance and ethical frameworks for data and AI development pipelines. Current topics include cryptocurrency and terrorist financing; critical analysis of advertising technology, GDPR consent, and behavioural monetisation models; and evaluation of AI-based risk analysis in the insurance sector.

2. Climate risk mitigation, data and AI

Projects include the use of satellite imagery for soil carbon quantification; the design of citizen-facing decision-support tools for climate risk mitigation using explainable AI; analysis of smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and mixed mobility; assessment of climate and extreme weather impacts on insurance; exploration of ESG analytics through green statistics; and evaluation of enterprise and global data/AI policy responses to climate change.

3. Extended reality, creative sectors, and governance

This work examines the opportunities and risks of immersive technologies, including the promise and limits of commercial applications, immersive environments as emerging social spaces, and the role of extended reality in culture and the arts.

4. Health technology and AI

Research supports the development of immersive approaches to neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, and evaluates the opportunities and risks of immersive technologies in addressing loneliness and social isolation.

5. Autonomous vehicles

Topics address the benefits and hazards of autonomous systems, with a particular focus on agency, safety, ethics, and the governance implications of embodied AI and robotics.

6. Philosophy of AI

This theme includes work on the philosophy of language and its relevance to AI, alongside broader conceptual analysis of machine intelligence.

7. Agentic AI, commercialisation, and anticipatory governance

Projects examine agency, risk, and ethics in agentic AI systems, with a focus on commercial pathways and anticipatory approaches to governance.

Across research and supervision, Dr. Cunneen’s work is characterised by an interdisciplinary commitment to addressing real-world challenges, with particular emphasis on actionable governance, responsible innovation, and ethical accountability in rapidly evolving AI, data, and immersive technology ecosystems.

AI Data Governance and Risk Management

Governance theory: Examines the principles, institutional models, and decision structures used to oversee AI systems and data practices, with emphasis on accountability, transparency, auditability, and compliance.

Risk and regulation: Evaluates risks across the data and AI lifecycle, from collection and storage to deployment and monitoring, aligned with evolving regulatory regimes including the GDPR and the EU AI Act, particularly in high-impact commercial applications.

Privacy and security: Develops and critically assesses methods for protecting sensitive information, preserving trust, and meeting privacy obligations under frameworks such as the GDPR and CCPA.

Explainable and Ethical AI

Explainable AI (XAI): Advances transparency by ensuring AI outputs can be meaningfully interpreted, justified, and contested by relevant stakeholders.

Machine decision-making ethics: Analyses the ethical implications of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems, including fairness, bias mitigation, due process, and societal benefit.

AI and Emerging Applications

Insurtech and data ethics: Investigates the use of AI in insurance and risk modelling, focusing on the ethical use of personal, behavioural, and inferred data, and the governance of automated decisions.

Principles and frameworks: Develops practical guidance and evaluative frameworks for trustworthy, sustainable, and responsible AI from design through deployment.

Innovative Data Ecosystems

Data markets and exchanges: Studies the development, governance, and regulation of high-value data markets, with attention to ethical monetisation, interoperability, and secure sharing mechanisms.

Data-centred circular economies: Explores models for data reuse and sharing that reduce duplication and waste while maximising societal and economic value.

Climate Risk and Sustainable AI

Sustainable AI: Designs and evaluates approaches that reduce environmental impacts, including energy-efficient models, greener infrastructure choices, and AI applications that support sustainability goals.

Since 2024, Dr. Cunneen has secured approximately €1.7 million in competitive research funding across four active projects, strengthening the University of Limerick’s capacity in AI governance, immersive technologies, and human-centred innovation.

• XTREME: Principal Investigator (University of Limerick) on the Horizon Europe 2024 project XTREME: Mixed Reality Environment for Immersive Experience of Art and Culture, and Lead of UL’s XTREME Mixed Reality Research Living Lab, advancing mixed reality research and real-world experimentation in art and cultural experience.

• AI-MINDS: Principal Investigator on the LERO-funded project AI-MINDS (AI–Multi-modal Immersive Nextgen-Agentic Dialogue Synths), developing next-generation multimodal, immersive and agentic dialogue systems.

• MotiverseP: Co-Principal Investigator on the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research, focused on Parkinson’s therapeutics and mixed reality, supporting innovative translational pathways at the intersection of health technology and immersive environments.

• Somabotics (Turing Fellowship collaboration): Supporting partner on Professor Steve Benford’s UK Turing Fellowship project Somabotics: Creatively Embodying Artificial Intelligence, contributing expertise on the philosophy of AI, AI and art, agency, and sense-making and meaning in embodied and creative AI systems.

In addition, Dr. Cunneen will lead a major new industry collaboration:

• AI-CARE: A four-year, industry-led collaboration with LERO and Research Ireland launching in January 2026, backed by over €500,000 in funding. The programme will support five PhD researchers and develop innovative models and real-world applications across artificial intelligence, digital twins, and extended reality.