Short Bio
Dr. Cynthia C. S. Liem MMus is an Associate Professor in the Multimedia Computing Group of Delft University of Technology, and pianist of the Magma Duo. Her research interests are in trustworthy and responsible AI; here, she especially focuses on techniques that make people discover new interests and content which would not trivially be retrieved, and questions of validation and validity in data-driven decision-making. After starting in music information retrieval, today, her research considers broader public-interest domains with high societal impact. She initiated and co-coordinated multiple European research projects on technological enrichment of digital musical heritage, and gained industrial experience at Bell Labs Netherlands, Philips Research and Google.
Cynthia received recognition through multiple awards (Lucent Global Science and Google Anita Borg Europe Memorial scholarships, Google European Doctoral Fellowship, finalist of the New Scientist Science Talent Award, Researcher-in-Residence at the National Library of The Netherlands), is a member of the Dutch national Young Academy, and still performs as a musician. With her track record in inter- and transdisciplinary collaborative research and public engagement, she became a sought-after educator and communicator, and is a core team member of TU Delft | The Hague, seeking to better connect engineering expertise to policymaking.
Title
Working as intended? Is what we see what we should get?
Abstract
While we have seen impressive developments in AI and, today, Generative AI, critical questions can (and should) be asked on when this technology really is a fundamental game-changer, and when optimism may be overblown or wrongly scoped. In this talk, I will wear my different hats as a computer scientist, educator, artist, inter- and transdisciplinary researcher, and a recent public figure in AI policy and media commentaries. Touching upon common misconceptions and blind spots I encountered in my work, I will discuss several situations in which AI systems seem to be successful, but turn out problematic upon a closer look. From this, I would like to invite the audience to reflect on what our relationship as humans to this type of technology should be.