Natali Helberger, co-founder of our AI, Media & Democracy Lab and KNAW member, is Distinguished University Professor of Law and Digital Technology with a special focus on AI at the University of Amsterdam and a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Information Law (IViR), one of the leading information law institutes worldwide. She co-founded two Research Priority Area at the UvA: Information, Communication, and the Data Society (https://www.uva-icds.net) and Human(e) AI (https://humane-ai.nl) – university-wide research programs and hubs for researchers from the social sciences, humanities, and computer science to advance a societal perspective on AI. As one of the four AI University Professors at the UvA, member of the Dutch National AI Coalition and the VSNU AI Expert Table, and track leader in the national Digital Society Initiative, Helberger is actively shaping AI research in the Netherlands and has been invited to co-author the Dutch AI research agenda.
Her research over the past five years has focused on how AI and ADS are transforming society and the media, and the implications for law and governance. This research entails working with computer scientists and technology experts in the national Responsible Data Science Initiative and with industry partners such as RTL, Blendle, Volkskrant, FD, VPRO (Belgium), ZDF (Germany), and the BBC (UK). She is elected chair of the Council of Europe Expert Group on AI and Freedom of Expression, Advisory Board Member of the Reuters Institute for Journalism at Oxford, and member of the scientific board of the German Media Policy Lab (an initiative of the German regulator to promote collaboration between science and policy on matters of the digital society). In recognition of her contribution to the field she has been listed as one of the “100 brilliant women in AI ethics to follow” worldwide. Based on her research, she regularly advises national and European law and policymakers including, among others, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the OECD, UNESCO, the Dutch Parliament, and national governments and regulatory authorities.
