How can machines learn from interaction? Or how can intelligence, or, more generally, complex behavior, emerge from simple parts? I remain fond of these classical AI research questions, but I am also increasingly intrigued by what I like to call “Artificial X”: artificializing phenomena beyond intelligence, from emotion, creativity, and bonding to ethics. Not just to understand more, but also to better appreciate what we do not yet understand. And not only to study what is possible tomorrow, but also to speculate about the deep future.

More information about Peter van der Putten

These are big questions, of course, but nonetheless fascinating, and I enjoy exploring them as a researcher in the Human AI research cluster at LIACS, Leiden University. I am also a member of the Leiden University interdisciplinary research programme Society, Artificial Intelligence and Life Sciences (SAILS). In addition, I apply these methods in industry, most recently as Director AI Lab and Lead Scientist at Pegasystems, as well as in creative and artistic domains. I also have experience with startups, both as an employee and as an informal advisor.

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