TU/e is hiring: Two PhD positions open
TU/e is seeking applications for two PhD positions that will be affiliated with the Eindhoven Center for the Philosophy of AI. Come work with us!
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PhD in Philosophy and Computer Science
Job description
We seek to fill in a joint PhD position in the Philosophy and Computer Science at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).
You will work on an exciting interdisciplinary VACE project funded by EAISI’s Exploratory Multidisciplinary AI Research program, developing philosophical and computer science foundations of value alignment for actionable counterfactual explanations in machine learning-based decision making. You will participate in cutting-edge research, publish your work in leading conferences and journals on fairness and transparency in machine learning and AI, including philosophical venues, contribute in open-source tools and their application in the real world scenarios. You will travel to present your work at high-profile scientific meetings and conferences.
You will work under supervision of Emily Sullivan, co-director of the Eindhoven Center for the Philosophy of AI and Mykola Pechenizkiy, leader of the Data and Artificial Intelligence Cluster, which will be your base and where you will join a vibrant and diverse team of 15 faculty and over 40 PhD students and postdocs advancing the science and engineering of data, machine learning, and AI systems and applications. Several researchers in the cluster work on fairness and explainability in AI (see project).
Your main activities will be to:
- Advance the state-of-the-art in counterfactual explanations in AI from the philosophy and computer science perspectives.
- Create working software prototypes.
- Publish and present papers in top conferences and journals.
- Develop your professional network and collaboration with other PhD candidates in the DAI cluster and the Eindhoven Center for the Philosophy of AI and beyond.
Information and application
We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled. To learn more about the position, conditions, requirements, and how to apply please visit the application page.⬇
PhD in Philosophy and Ethics of Technology
Job description
Technologies have historically changed how we conceptualized the interlocking concepts of originality and creativity and of authorship and ownership. For example, in the oral tradition it was the person telling the story that mattered, not so much the story itself. With the invention of the printing press, stories became artifacts that are trademarked, owned, and sold. Such concepts were again disrupted by technologies like genetically modified food and practices like music sampling and peer-to-peer network sharing.
Today content generation technologies (CGT) are further upending concepts of originality - creativity and authorship - ownership. AI driven GPT-3 can create text and formulate arguments. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), such as DALL-E 2, can produce realistic artworks in the style of particular artists. Next to conceptual disruptions, CGT also raise many ethical issues surrounding ownership of intellectual property, trustworthiness and overreliance, and reproduction of human biases in GPT-3 generated texts.
This PhD project takes a critical look at the way CGTs affect the interrelated concepts of originality and creativity on the one hand, and authorship and ownership on the other, and explore the ethical implications of CGT and AI-supported acts of creativity and authorship.
You will have the ability to shape the project in a unique way that matches your interests and background. We see several different paths that would make for a successful project. Perspectives from ethics, epistemology, aesthetics, and legal and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and non-western traditions are all welcome.
We are looking for someone who has a background in the ethics or philosophy of technology broadly construed and is motivated to engage with local artists, educators, and policy makers affected by content generation technologies.
You will be embedded within the Philosophy and Ethics group in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences at TU/e. The Philosophy & Ethics group at TU/e is a vibrant international community, consisting of around 30 members (including 8 PhD students) with research interests ranging from philosophy of science and technology to ethics and the philosophy of AI. We have strong cooperation with other departments and the new Eindhoven Articial intelligence Systems Institute (EAISI). The PhD will also be affiliated with the new Eindhoven Center for the Philosophy of AI. TU/e is part of the 4TU Ethics consortium, where we cooperate closely on research and education of students (TU/e, Delft, Twente, Wageningen).
You will be part of ESDiT research community. Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies (ESDiT) is a 10-year long (2020-2030) international research program of 7 academic institutions in the Netherlands (TU/e, TU Delft, Utrecht University, UMC Utrecht, University of Twente, Leiden University, and Wageningen University & Research). ESDiT engages in breakthrough research at the intersections of ethics, philosophy, technology, engineering and social sciences. The consortium has over 100 researchers (PhDs, postdocs, professors, doctors) working on themes in the ethics and philosophy of technology in the Netherlands. ESDiT comes with unique mentoring and career development opportunities for PhD students in the program.
The project will be supervised by Patrik Hummel, Emily Sullivan, and Philip Nickel.
Information and application
We look forward to your application and will screen it as soon as we have received it. Screening will continue until the position has been filled. To learn more about the position, conditions, requirements, and how to apply please visit the application page.⬇