Session 3- Simulating and imagining a society with AI Agents

14:00 PM to 15:00 PM
Studio 4

This session will explore how AI agents can be used to imagine and design possible futures. Conversely, how can we think about a society of agents? Moving beyond purely technical considerations, it will invite participants to reflect on the broader societal, cultural, and psychological transformations brought about by the widespread presence of autonomous agents. Speakers will present tools, projects, and creative approaches. By providing concrete examples and insights, the session aims to foster a critical yet constructive dialogue on the kinds of futures we want to build or avoid.

Meet the speakers

  • Geoffrey Aerts

    MODERATOR

    FARI Academic Director - Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

    Geoffrey Aerts holds a Master’s degree in European and comparative politics from the Universiteit Antwerpen, a Master after master’s degree in Diplomacy and international relations from the Universiteit Antwerpen and a master’s in management science from the Institute for Transport and Maritime Management Antwerp, ITMMA. In 2015 Geoffrey Aerts obtained a PhD title in applied economics from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, after receiving a research grant, provided to the VUB Chair in public-private partnerships sponsored by Deloitte, Grontmij and Laga. He currently runs the VUB Business development Academy. Geoffrey Aerts’ academic work has focused on knowledge management/transfer, stakeholder management and project management and has been published in major scientific publications, including Project Management Journal and International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics. He furthermore won the triennial Joseph Merlot – Joseph Leclercq prize 2015 awarded by CIRIEC for his work in the field of cooperative economy.

    Currently, Geoffrey Aerts is working both as an academic, as well as academic director/entrepreneur. In his academic work, Geoffrey Aerts is affiliated with the Business Technology and Operations research group within the Economics and Social science and Solvay Business School department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where he conducts research that studies the optimization of research valorization at the university level and the impact of innovation ecosystems within urban regions.

  • Jordi Cabot

    SPEAKER

    Head of the Software Engineering RDI Unit at LIST ｜FNR Pearl Chair ｜Affiliate Professor in CS at University of Luxembourg

    Jordi Cabot is an FNR Pearl Chair and the head of the Software Engineering RDI Unit at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology. He is also an Affiliate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Luxembourg.

    His core research goal is helping companies build better software faster. This includes topics such as software modeling and low-code technologies, pragmatic formal model verification, analysis of open source/open data communities and the role AI can play in software development (and vice versa).

  • Katrīna Kūkuma

    SPEAKER

    Data Analyst at Riga

  • Morten Irgens

    SPEAKER

    Vice Dean of Innovation and Impact, Copenhagen Business School, Strategic advisor, Kristiania, Director of CAIRNE, NORA, and Adra

    Morten Irgens is the co-founder of the AI organisations NORA (the Norwegian AI Research Consortium), CAIRNE (the Confederation of Laboratories of Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe, previously CLAIRE), and Adra (the AI, Data, and Robotics Association), as well as the Canadian AI-based technology company Actenum.

    He has served on Adra and CAIRNE’s boards since their establishment.  He has served as a member of the Nordic Council’s expert advisory group on AI. 

    He holds a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence), an area he started working in 35 years ago.

    Irgens has served as Vice-Rector for Research (twice), Faculty Dean (twice), and Director of Research at various universities and university colleges, and is now Strategic Advisor to the senior management of Kristiania, Vice Dean of Innovation at Copenhagen Business School, a member of the Steering Committee of the Danish National Defence Technology Centre and Universities Denmark’s Standing Committee on Innovation Policies.

    He is co-responsible for establishing the Centre for Cyber and Information Security, SimulaMet Centre for Digital Engineering, the Norwegian Centre for Housing Market Economics, Innovation District Punkt Oslo, and the Nordic-Baltic Cognitive Security Alliance.  He has, for the last ten years, lobbied for strengthening Europe’s technology sovereignty and research and innovation in AI.