PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Alexiei Dingli

Alexiei Dingli is a Maltese AI researcher with work in the Semantic Web, education, healthcare, transport, and public media. He completed an AI doctorate at Sheffield in 2004, became a computer-science professor at the University of Malta in 2007, and served as Valletta's mayor from 2008 to 2019. His projects include FAIE, which personalises student learning; MORPHEUS, an AI and VR pain-support game; Digital Traffic Brain; and TVM's AI-presenter series. As of October 2026, he is a Full Professor of AI at the University of Malta and co-editor of Growing Up with AI.

Now at
University of Malta and Digital Brain
Works
211
Citations
1,268
h-index
17
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2001–2007

    AI research at Sheffield

    He earns a B.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Malta in 2001 and completes a PhD in Artificial Intelligence at Sheffield in 2004. He works as an AI researcher in Sheffield, later becomes a senior manager of business development in Malta, and joins the University of Malta as a computer science professor in 2007. His PhD work on the future of the Web contributes to an application that wins the first Semantic Web challenge.

  2. 2008–2019

    Mayor of Valletta

    He becomes mayor of Valletta in 2008 and resigns in January 2019.

  3. 2019

    Funding the FAIE learning app

    In 2019, his Fair Artificial Intelligence Educator system, FAIE, wins €50,000 at the Malta Social Impact Awards. The web app aims to give students personalised education.

  4. August 2021

    MORPHEUS for pain care

    In August 2021, he leads the University of Malta's MORPHEUS project, an AI and VR game to help child patients cope with pain during medical procedures. The game tracks physiological signals and adjusts its challenges to the player's state.

  5. January 2024

    Digital Traffic Brain

    In January 2024, he secures a €1.3 million investment on Shark Tank Malta for Digital Traffic Brain, later known as Digital Brain. The company's early work pairs a journey-planning app with traffic simulation to ease congestion.

  6. October 2025

    An AI presenter on TV

    He collaborates with TVM on Artificial Intelligence in Our Lives, which launches in October 2025 with a digital presenter. The 12-episode series covers AI in health, transport, industry, arts, culture, security, and personal relationships.

  7. February 2026

    Editing Growing Up with AI

    In February 2026, he co-edits Growing Up with AI: Understanding the Impact of AI on the New Generation with Thomas Heinrich Musiolik.

  8. As of October 2026

    AI professor and company director

    As of October 2026, he is a Full Professor of AI at the University of Malta and Director of Digital Brain.

A language model matched the links in this timeline to people, organizations and papers (provisional, model-judged).

Career

  1. Since 2007University of MaltaFull Professor of AI, Project lead
  2. NowDigital BrainDirector
  3. 2008–2010University of Sheffield

Education

  1. 2004University of SheffieldPhD in Artificial Intelligence
  2. 2001University of MaltaB.Sc. in Computer Science

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Learning to Harvest Information for the Semantic Web2004 · Lecture notes in computer science · 118 citationsWith Yorick A. Wilks
  2. Financial Time Series Forecasting – A Deep Learning Approach2017 · International Journal of Machine Learning and Computing · 114 citations
  3. User-System Cooperation in Document Annotation Based on Information Extraction2002 · Lecture notes in computer science · 108 citationsWith Yorick A. Wilks
  4. Automatic semantic annotation using unsupervised information extraction and integration2003 · 73 citationsWith Yorick A. Wilks
  5. Comparison of Deep Learning Algorithms to Predict Customer Churn within a Local Retail Industry2017 · International Journal of Machine Learning and Computing · 51 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Sheffield. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes University of Sheffield. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1962 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  4. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Alexiei Dingli yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Alexiei Dingli themayor.eu. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Prof Alexiei Dingli | Research Trust Malta researchtrustmalta.eu. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. Professor Dingli: Chatbots and e-services can bring governments closer to citizens themayor.eu. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. €83,500 awarded at the Malta Social Impact Awards 2019 inspirasia.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. UM-developed VR Games to Ease Patients’ Pain um.edu.mt. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. What happened after Alexiei Dingli secured €1.3M on Shark Tank maltaceos.mt. Checked 18 October 2026.
  7. 'People shouldn't trust whatever they see': TVM and Alexiei Dingli launch first AI presenter whoswho.mt. Checked 18 October 2026.
  8. Growing Up with AI: Understanding the Impact of AI on the New Generation - Google Books books.google.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  9. Leading Through AI Disruption: MDB on Adopting AI Responsibly mdb.org.mt. Checked 18 October 2026.
  10. Prof. Alexiei Dingli - L-Università ta' Malta um.edu.mt. Checked 18 October 2026.