PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Simon Penny

Simon Penny makes robotic artworks and studies how computation meets embodied cultural practice. He builds autonomous work such as Petit Mal, uses machine vision in Fugitive and Traces, and establishes UC Irvine’s Arts Computation Engineering graduate program. His 2017 book examines embodied cognition, computing and art, and his 2024 AI self-portrait generates papers and lectures based on his writing. As of October 2026, he is a professor at UC Irvine with faculty appointments in art, music and informatics.

Born
1955
Works
71
Citations
3,625
h-index
13
Badges

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

Timeline

  1. 1979–1982

    Fine art and sculpture diplomas

    He earns a diploma in fine art at the South Australian School of Art in 1979 and a graduate diploma in sculpture at the Sydney College of the Arts in 1982.

  2. 1987–1991

    Early robotic installations

    In the late 1980s, he begins making electronically complex works, including Stupid Robot (1987), Lo Yo Yo (1988), Ceci n'est pas un oiseau (1989–1990) and Pride of Our Young Nation (1990–1991).

  3. 1990s

    Carnegie Mellon and Petit Mal

    During the 1990s, he holds a tenured professorship in art and robotics at Carnegie Mellon, jointly appointed to its College of Fine Arts and Robotics Institute. First shown publicly in 1995, Petit Mal reacts autonomously to visitors.

  4. 1997–1999

    Fugitive and Traces

    Fugitive uses machine vision for interactive digital video and appears at ZKM in 1997; Traces expands machine vision into an immersive 3D work presented at Ars Electronica in 1999.

  5. 2000–2003

    Establishing UCI’s ACE program

    He joins UC Irvine in 2000 to establish its interdisciplinary Arts Computation Engineering (ACE) graduate program. In 2003, the program begins, and he holds a joint appointment in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts and The Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

  6. 2017

    Making Sense and embodied cognition

    His artistic and scholarly work explores problems at the interface of computational technologies and cultural practices. In 2017, he publishes Making Sense: Cognition, Computing, Art and Embodiment, a book focused on embodied and situated aesthetic experience and computer culture.

  7. 2024

    An AI self-portrait

    In 2024, he and collaborators develop Professor Simsimon, an AI self-portrait. It generates papers and lectures he might have given, based on 20 years of his professional writing.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at UC Irvine

    As of October 2026, he is a professor at UC Irvine with faculty appointments in art, music and informatics.

Career

  1. Since 2000University of California, IrvineProfessor
  2. 1994–1998Carnegie Mellon UniversityProfessor of art and robotics

Education

  1. 1982Sydney College of the ArtsGraduate diploma in sculpture
  2. 1979South Australian School of ArtDiploma in fine art

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 California, Irvine. 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. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of California, Irvine. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of California, Irvine. 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.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes University of California, Irvine. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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

  1. Simon Penny (biography) fondation-langlois.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Simon Penny | UCI Arts arts.uci.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Pushing the edge – UC Irvine News news.uci.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. SimonPenny.net simonpenny.net. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. AI Self-Portrait | Simon Penny simonpenny.net. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. After the Fire | UCI Arts arts.uci.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.