Maud van Lier

Since 2021, I have been an academic staff member and PhD candidate at the Department of Philosophy. My research is embedded in the interdisciplinary project on “The future of creativity in basic research: Can artificial agents be authors of scientific discoveries?”, which is supervised by Prof. Thomas Müller, University of Konstanz, Germany, and Prof. Hans Briegel, University of Innsbruck, Austria. The project aims at laying the conceptual foundations for AI-driven science by connecting methods and techniques from philosophy, quantum physics, and AI.

In the attempt to conceptually clarify the foundations of truly autonomous AI-driven research, my research will center around the question whether one could attribute some form of agency to these automated systems and what this would entail. If such automated systems can truly count as the ‘drivers’ of such research, could this driving then not be seen as an act of which the automated system is the agent? 

Within action theory, the focus has mainly been on human agents. However, new approaches in animal studies and in ethics show an interest in broadening this notion of agency to include animals and maybe even automated systems. During my research I will take part in this relatively new development by thinking about whether and in what way the notion of agency could be expanded to include artificial agency. However, where most accounts of agency focus on the moral consequences of attributing such agency, I want to develop an account of artificial agency that is morally neutral and fairly generally applicable.

My background in the fields of Philosophy of (techno-)Science, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Risk and Responsible Innovation, all provide me with a diverse and broad background for my current interests in the philosophical implications of technological innovations.

I also have a bachelor in English Literature and Culture, and, as a side-project, I am currently looking at the way in which writers can construct a narrative that allows us to think about the possible consequences of current technological innovations.