In 2015, AlphaGo became the first computer programme to beat a professional player at a game of Go. This is just one of a series of high-profile cases in which a machine has learnt to play a game better than any human player, through a combination of systematic search, learning strategies, neural networks, pattern recognition, and so on. But of course, AI can have much more important applications too: it is revolutionising the healthcare industry, has the power to transform the car industry, and is even being used to detect people at suicide risk via their social media profiles. All these opportunities also come with risks – whether safety risks, ethical risks or privacy risks.
VU Amsterdam’s Artificial Intelligence programme is unique, because we offer two separate tracks that specialise in the two different sides of Artificial Intelligence. Whether you choose the Intelligent Systems track or the Socially Aware Computing track, you’ll get a thorough understanding of the possible applications of AI. That means not just delving into the code that powers machine learning, but also looking at the psychology behind the ways we use AI and the social impact of technological solutions.
VU Amsterdam’s research specialises in “Humane AI” or “Hybrid AI”: the premise being that the combination of human and machine intelligence is greater than the sum of its part. You’ll start with the social context in which a technological system needs to function, and then develop algorithms that work within that context. This is a truly interdisciplinary programme: information science meets social science.
The start date of this programme is September 1st.
