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Lisa Herzog, dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, recently appeared on Pablo Rivas-Robledo's 'Ping Pong Philosophy' podcast. They discussed a range of philosophical subjects.

Financial institutions and multinationals manage enormous cash flows. This means they play a central role not only in the global economy, but also in major political and social developments, such as the energy transition, international sanctions and geopolitical conflicts. Sometimes their influence is downright problematic. Banks can, consciously, facilitate cash flows to authoritarian regimes or companies that contribute to pollution. In such cases, the ethical boundary is clear. But there are also situations in which responsibility is less clear-cut. Can you hold a financial institution morally responsible for something it is not aware of?

Beer Prakken researches humour and play in politics. He has just returned from America, where he conducted part of his research. What is currently happening in American politics under Donald Trump’s leadership is fascinating, but there is also enough going on in the Netherlands to provide him with input.

Autonomous systems that utilize AI are ubiquitous, ranging from Google search queries to smart traffic lights. However, we must be careful using them, says philosopher Herman Veluwenkamp. ‘When autonomous systems are developed, too little attention is paid to the question as to whether the choices they make are fair, and in many cases there is a lack of democratic control.’ He hopes to change that by means of a rating model.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a Veni grant of up to €320,000 each to eleven researchers of the University of Groningen and the UMCG: Quentin Changeat, Wen Wu, Femke Cnossen, Stacey Copeland, Bart Danon, Gesa Kübek, Hannah Laurens, Adi Stoykova, Frank Tsiwah, Qian Huang and L. van Olst. The Veni grants are designed for outstanding researchers who have recently gained a PhD.

Artikel Bart Streumer Filosofie Magazine

Toets voor de democratisch verantwoorde inrichting van datagedreven technologieën.

Professors Jingyuan Fu, Lisa Herzog, and Helga de Valk of the UG have been appointed members by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

In the coming weeks the nominees for the Ben Feringa Impact Award 2025 will introduce themselves and their impactful research or project. This week: Makke Marij Bakker, Annika Zweep, Adriaan Beelaerts van Blokland & Lisette Kamping nominated for their project Collective Memory Dialogue Cards.