I studied artificial systems in the early 90s because such systems seemed to offer endless possibilities, for example assisting radiologists in finding diseases in medical images. In the following two decades I used artificial systems to study neural systems (how does the human brain use physical patterns and biases to get a quick first impression of the natural environment) and social systems (how do humans use stereotypes as a mechanism to cope with the social environment).

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I've sought to bridge the gaps between 1) scientific fields, 2) research and education, and 3) science and society since the beginning of my professional career. Exploring in-between spaces and choosing less-traveled roads gives me a lot of pleasure and teaches me a lot. This is why I avoid the academic culture of publish-or-perish, and why I support innovative reward and recognition systems focussing on cooperation rather than competition.

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Currently I am Professor of Socially-Intelligent AI at the University of Amsterdam. I lead the Socially Intelligent Artificial Systems (SIAS) group at the  Informatics Institute. I am  Scientific Director of the Civic AI Lab, a project aimed at developing AI technology to increase equal opportunity in the fields of education, welfare, environment, mobility and health. And I am Program Director of the Msc Data Science & Information Systems at the University of Amsterdam.

 

Projects I am involved in include the Horizon Europe project CommuniCity, aiming at increasing  effectiveness and capacity of socio-technical forms of engagement and action, by empowering hard-to-reach, marginalised communities, and the KNAW  project Inzicht in AI. Here you can find a short video about my research at the University of Amsterdam, and below you can some recent media highlights of my academic work and social engagements.