PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Simon Kirby

Also known as Simon M. Kirby

Simon Kirby is a language-evolution researcher whose work connects cultural transmission, artificial languages, and AI agents. He studied linguistics and artificial intelligence at Edinburgh, then joined its Department of Linguistics as a British Academy postdoctoral fellow before becoming Professor of Language Evolution. In 2008, his laboratory experiments showed how languages become easier to learn through transmission; in 2009, his artwork Cybraphon won a BAFTA. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2012 and a Fellow of the British Academy in 2019. In 2025 and 2026, he coauthored research on language origins, language models, and agent communication; he is Edinburgh's Personal Chair of Language Evolution and directs its Centre for Language Evolution.

Born
1970
Works
496
Citations
13,375
h-index
53
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1988–1995

    Linguistics and AI at Edinburgh

    At Edinburgh, he earns a first-class MA with honours in Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence in 1992, then completes a PhD there in 1995 on the emergence of language universals.

  2. 2000–2009

    Academic posts at Edinburgh

    He joins the University of Edinburgh's Department of Linguistics as a British Academy postdoctoral fellow in March 2000. He becomes a lecturer in October 2003, a Reader in Evolution of Language and Cognition in October 2005, and Professor of Language Evolution in October 2009.

  3. 2008

    Language evolution in the lab

    With Hannah Cornish, he runs a lab experiment in which human participants pass artificial languages along a chain. The team finds that languages become easier to learn and more structured as they pass through generations.

  4. 2009

    Cybraphon wins a BAFTA

    His artistic work includes Cybraphon, which wins a BAFTA in 2009.

  5. 2012–2019

    Elected to two academies

    The Royal Society of Edinburgh elects him as a Fellow in 2012, and the British Academy elects him as a Fellow in 2019.

  6. 2025

    A biocultural language framework

    In 2025, he coauthors the Science review What enables human language? A biocultural framework. The review presents an empirical framework that studies language emergence through biological preparedness, cultural transmission, and their interaction, with case studies on vocal production learning, linguistic structure, and social underpinnings.

  7. 2026

    Language models and agent languages

    With Jennifer Culbertson and Kenny Smith, he argues in a 2026 commentary that models of human language must account for communicative function. He joins Elias Stengel-Eskin to lead GlossoGen, an open-source platform for controlled experiments on communication among large language model agents.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and centre director

    At Edinburgh, he holds the Personal Chair of Language Evolution in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences and directs the Centre for Language Evolution.

Career

  1. Since 2000University of EdinburghBritish Academy postdoctoral fellow, Lecturer
  2. 2003–2017National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Education

  1. 1995University of EdinburghMA with honours; PhD

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

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Edinburgh. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. Universities had a net outflow of 2,068 moves in AI careersIncludes University of Edinburgh. Our estimates of career flows and median h-index across universities and companies in AI, including the role of joint appointments and earlier academic jobs.
  3. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes University of Edinburgh. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Edinburgh. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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  1. Simon Kirby - University of Edinburgh Research Explorer research.ed.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Language evolution witnessed in lab experiments | National Geographic nationalgeographic.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. About — Simon Kirby simonkirby.net. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. New RSE Fellows announced | Staff news | The University of Edinburgh ed.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Trio of academics elected to British Academy | Staff news | The University of Edinburgh ed.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. What enables human language? A biocultural framework - University of Edinburgh Research Explorer research.ed.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Language models do not yet achieve explanatory adequacy because language is more than incremental prediction | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core doi.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. AI agents evolve their own languages - Schmidt Sciences schmidtsciences.org. Checked 20 October 2026.