The University of Amsterdam has appointed Prof. Natali Helberger as a new University Professor to the chair in Law and Digital Technology, with a special emphasis on Artificial Intelligence. Her appointment will commence on 1 November 2019. Helberger's appointment makes her the fourth of four University Professors at the UvA who will spend the coming five years focusing on an interdisciplinary approach to Artificial Intelligence and its impact on users and society. The other three University Professors appointed earlier are Maarten de Rijke, Ivana Išgum and Tobias Blanke.
Recent developments in the area of information technology, AI and robotics have compounded the challenges law and public policy face. They give rise to multiple legal problems such as issues related to autonomous systems and automated decision making. Additionally, there is a wider range of issues with regard to the impact new technologies have on society as well as our existing rules, public values and fundamental rights, such as those involving ownership, privacy, citizenship, and democracy.
As a professor of information law, Natali Helberger studies the legal, ethical and public policy related challenges associated with using algorithms and AI in media, political campaigning, commerce and the healthcare sector, and the implications this has for users and society. As a University Professor, she will continue building on this research and within the Law School and the University of Amsterdam, she will initiate and conduct research on the legal implications of AI and automated decision making. She will also focus her efforts on strengthening the aspects of technology and AI in the Amsterdam Law School's programmes and bringing legal expertise into interdisciplinary co-operations within the UvA and beyond. Rector Magnificus Karen Maex is pleased that Natali Helberger's appointment now completes the team of AI University Professors: 'The legal and ethical implications of artificial intelligence are already incorporated in Helberger's research. With her extensive national and international network, she is the ideal link between scholars at the UvA and scholars at other institutions'.
