SARChI DIALOGUE SERIES - The Global AI Race: Power, Politics, and the Erosion of Rights [11 August 2025]

TOPIC: Increasingly artificial intelligence has become an arena of geopolitical rivalry. In particular the US and China aspire to lead in the technology as Europe develops policies to not fall behind too much. As a result of this AI race, however, regulation, protection of human rights and democratic oversight, is being pushed off the agenda, while it is becoming clear that AI can have a very negative effect on society and the rights of citizens.

In this talk, the impact of AI will be discussed by understanding it as a system technology. Based on his work at the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (the WRR), Sheikh will describe the tasks necessary to embed such a technology responsibly in society. Through such a framework, a more comprehensive understanding can be reached of how to guarantee human rights and good governance.

SPEAKER: Haroon Sheikh is a professor of philosophy at VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands with a chair in the Governance of Global Technologies. He is also a senior scientist at the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy. He has published on the geopolitics of digital technology and digital sovereignty, he is an expert contributor to the International Scientific Report on AI Safety and a member of the MSI-AI of the Council of Europe that develops guidelines for the effect of AI on the freedom of expression.

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Light refreshments will be served.

This event is made possible with the support of the National Research Foundation.