Sennay Ghebreab

Out-of-the-AI-box

thinker, educator & changemaker

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I began studying artificial systems in the early 1990s because they promised unprecedented opportunities to support people - for example, by helping radiologists detect diseases in medical images. Over the following two decades, I increasingly used artificial systems not only to build intelligent technologies, but also to better understand neural and social intelligence: how the human brain relies on patterns and biases to form rapid impressions of the physical world, and how people use stereotypes to navigate complex social environments.

In 2009, I founded the Brain and Technology Amsterdam (BeTA Lab), where students explored bias from neural, social, and computational perspectives. Using portable EEG headsets, eye-trackers, data science and machine learning techniques, the lab enabled students to investigate how intelligence and bias emerge across biological, social, and artificial systems. The BeTA Lab served students until 2019.

Building on this work, I founded the Civic AI Lab in 2019. The lab develops AI for, with, and by people to promote social and economic rights - such as the rights to education, work, and good health - while safeguarding fundamental rights including privacy, non-discrimination, and equal opportunity. The Civic AI Lab is a collaboration between the University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the City of Amsterdam, and the Dutch Ministry of the Interior.

I am currently Professor of Socially Intelligent AI at the University of Amsterdam, where I lead Socially Intelligent Artificial Systems (SIAS) group within the Informatics Institute. In my inaugural lecture, "Infinity, Kaleidoscopy and Society: On Reflections of AI" , and the accompanying video here, I outline my vision of Socially Intelligent Artificial Systems. Below, you can find selected media highlights of my academic work and public engagement.