MCAA to hold online event on research in the AI Era

by Aurelia Chaise

 

Artificial Intelligence is transforming the world of research, bringing with it enormous opportunities and multiple risks. The Marie Curie Alumni Association will discuss this issue during an online event on 29 October.

MCAA’s Genders, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (GEDI) Working Group, in collaboration with the BeNeLux Chapter (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg) is teaming up with the University of Amsterdam’s Information, Communication & the Data Society (ICDS). Together, they will host a seminar titled Researcher 3.0: Research in the AI Era.

The main objectives of this online discussion (29 October, 17:30) are to introduce some of the latest Artificial intelligence (AI) research fields and to reflect and discuss the impact, threats, and opportunities of AI for research and researchers.

Historically technology has greatly enhanced and furthered research. Big data and AI are propelling and reshaping the work of researchers, research and research management processes (recruitment, funding etc.) across disciplines and sectors. On the one hand, these technologies have the potential to boost research and innovation and facilitate the daily tasks of researchers. On the other hand, these technologies can possibly cause harm and hindrance to research and researchers at all levels.

Speakers during the online event will delve into a variety of timely topics. For instance, they will discuss how AI-enabled disinformation and fake news are discrediting research results and preventing their outspread to the general public. Another topic is the race towards technical monopoly (e.g., in driverless cars and brain machine interaction technologies) and how it is attracting more investment and affecting research and funding opportunities for other fields more critical to the effects of these technologies such as social sciences and humanities, alongside a myriad of other impacts (e.g. AI and disability, AI and democracy, AI and social (gender related and ethnic) biases.

Magda Theodoridou, chair of GEDI, and Elvira Bombino, chair of the BeNeLux MCAA chapter, will kick off the online event. The full list of speakers is below.

Speakers:

  • Magda Theodoridou (Chair, GEDI)
  • Elvira Bombino (Chair, Benelux MCAA)
  • Raphaële Xenidis (Lecturer in EU Law at Edinburgh Law School)
  • Felicia Loecherbach (Communication scientist, PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
  • Pablo Lanillos (Assistant professor in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence)

Moderator:

  • Nadia Metoui (Researcher in AI and Ethics University of Amsterdam)

Register here today to attend the 29 October online event Researcher 3.0: Research in the AI Era.