Immersive VRX Lab is proud to invite Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga, Leiden University, Netherlands to talk about his cutting-edge research titled: “Of, for, and by the people: The future of AI is human”
- Thursday, 16 December 2021
About Dr. Fosch-Villaronga
Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga is an Assistant Professor at the eLaw Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University (NL) where he investigates legal and regulatory aspects of robot and AI technologies, with a special focus on healthcare. Eduard recently published the book ‘Robots, Healthcare, and the Law. Regulating Automation in Personal Care’ with Routledge and is interested in human-robot interaction, responsible innovation, and the future of law. Eduard is the PI of LIAISON, an FSTP from the H2020 COVR project that aims to link robot development and policymaking to reduce the complexity in robot legal compliance. He is also the PI of PROPELLING, an FSTP from the H2020 Eurobench project, a project using robot testing zones to support evidence-based robot policies. Eduard is also the co-leader of the Ethical, Legal, and Societal Aspects Working Group at the H2020 Cost Action 16116 on Wearable Robots and participates actively at the Social Responsibility Working Group at the H2020 Cost Action 19121 GoodBrother.
In 2020, Eduard served the European Commission in the Sub-Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI), connected products and other new challenges in product safety to the Consumer Safety Network (CSN) to revise the General Product Safety directive. Previously, he worked as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Researcher under the LEaDing Fellows at eLaw. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Microsoft Cloud Computing Research Center at Queen Mary University of London, investigating the legal implications of cloud robotics; and at the University of Twente, exploring iterative regulatory modes for robot governance. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga holds an Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate (EMJD) in Law, Science, and Technology coordinated by the University of Bologna, an LL.M. from the University of Toulouse, an M.A. from the Autonomous University of Madrid, and an LL.B. from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Abstract:
Autonomous cars, assistive robots, smart speakers, surgical robots, and intelligent vacuum cleaners are just a few examples of technologies that increasingly interact with humans in private, professional, or public settings. Algorithms also determine whether people get a loan, go to college, or be a risk to society. The particularity of these advancements is that sometimes they help achieve societal goals and advocate for a more inclusive and fairer society, and, other times, they replicate and exacerbate existing societal problems. To avoid the potential adverse consequences AI may have for society; we need to ensure that the future of AI is for, by, and of the people.
