Future Based x Inverse Surveillance x Rudy van Belkom

Rudy van Belkom is a futures researcher at the Netherlands Study Centre for Technology Trends (STT). He recently published his book about ethics in the design process (‘AI no longer has a plug’) that offers developers, policymakers, philosophers and basically anyone with an interest in AI, tools for integrating ethics into the AI design process. The main question of his research is always: what future do we want? We need to ask ourselves what purpose we want to use technology for, rather than seeing it as purpose in itself. How can we use technology to create a better world? And what exactly is a better world? Currently Rudy is focusing on the impact of technology on the future of Democracy. In addition he developed an ethical design game for AI, inspired by the scrum process, that can be used to translate ethical issues into practice. The essence of the game is based on the position paper that he wrote together with the HU research group on AI and was accepted for ECAI 2020: ‘An Agile Framework for Trustworthy AI’. Van Belkom also investigated the role of AI in the future of his own field.

Om Podcasten

Questioning established frameworks. Why do we want robots? What about the ethics of new technologies? What is privacy? What is valuable? What role does intuition play in science? What is knowledge? And how do we obtain knowledge? What is morality? What does ‘evolution’ mean? How do new technologies influence our norms of social interaction? What does science say about religion? How does religion deal with science? What is AI and can we speak of cognitive computers? Can we gather new insights into the world through art? Which role does art play in producing knowledge? What is intelligence? And how should we consider the intelligence of animals and plants? Do animals have emotions? Are we hard-wired beeings? Does the world really change at a faster pace? What do the terms ‘sustainability’ and ‘innovation’ actually mean? What does it mean to be human? What are the consequences of my actions? Asking questions can provide access into gaining insight. In many areas, too few questions are asked, or a subject is merely discussed unilaterally. Future Based wants to organize discussions with experts in their field to ask critical questions. Not to necessarily find straight answers, but to formulate more specific questions, and to foster a deeper understanding of the world we live in. After all, the world is constantly changing. Nevertheless, there is a tendency to forget the importance of reflecting on how the world is changing, and in particular what the consequences of these changes might be. Future Based Podcast addresses issues ranging from the natural sciences and philosophy to art, technology and economics; a different subject will be highlighted in every podcast. We will engage in discussions with academics, field specialists and experiential experts.