Innovating with innovation AI
In addition to all kinds of new applications, AI will also generate new knowledge. AI is, for example, already combining chemical properties with biological knowledge to produce new antibiotics. And AI is already discovering laws of nature based on the movement patterns of objects and celestial bodies. AI is even generating scientific publications that are able to pass peer-review processes.
Does this make researchers obsolete? We don’t think so, but AI is changing the role of the researcher. Knowledge generated by AI will not become ‘explanatory’ within the next few decades. AI makes connections but does not know cause and effect; it can find a new law of nature or antibiotic but does not come up with the idea itself of doing the research; and it cannot explain why something works. Unlike AI, human researchers have the unique capacity to generate ideas; creativity, at present, remains restricted to humans.
How AI will change research itself is explained in Chapter 3 of our vision paper ‘Towards Digital Life, A vision of AI in 2032.’ (pdf) For example, what role will AI be permitted to play in knowledge sharing? And what will happen when we make machines work with insurmountably large data sets?
'AI has to be obedient, it has to do what it is programmed to do. Whereas a human is fundamentally disobedient.'
Download vision paper
Download vision paper ‘Towards Digital Life: A vision of AI in 2032’
More about 'Towards Digital Life: A vision of AI in 2032'
- David Deutsch on the development and application of AI
- Georgette Fijneman on the promise of AI for health insurers
- Rob de Wijk on the rise of AI in geopolitical context
- Bram Schot on the impact of AI on mobility
- Eppo Bruins on AI in different government domains
- Bas Haring on AI, science and philosophy
- Arnon Grunberg on AI, creativity and morality
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‘Giant AI goes down the European road’
TNO supports the alarming call of the Future of Life Institute regarding AI. Regulation is urgent and cannot be left solely to the market. Read TNO's response.
Rob de Wijk on the rise of AI in geopolitical context
Anne Fleur van Veenstra, director of science at TNO’s SA&P unit, interviews Rob de Wijk, emeritus professor of international relations in Leiden and founder of The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. Rob is also a much sought-after expert who appears on radio and television programmes. What does the rise of AI mean geopolitically and in armed conflicts?
Bram Schot on the impact of AI on mobility
Marieke Martens, science director at TNO and professor of automated vehicles at the Eindhoven University of Technology, talks to Bram Schot. Schot was the CEO of Audi until 2020, having previously held management positions at various car makers, including Mercedes and Volkswagen. Their conversation concerns the influence of AI on mobility. How will AI impact the production process? And what does a future with autonomous vehicles look like?
Eppo Bruins on AI in different government domains
Michiel van der Meulen, chief geologist for the Geological Survey of the Netherlands (GDN), speaks with Eppo Bruins. Bruins was educated as a nuclear physicist and has spent many years working in the world of science, innovation, and technology. Between 2015 and 2021, he was a Dutch member of parliament for the Christian Union. He was recently appointed chairman of the Advisory council for science, technology and innovation (AWTI). What will AI mean for the various government domains in the coming years?
Bas Haring on AI, science and philosophy
Michiel van der Meulen, chief geologist for the Geological Survey of the Netherlands (GDN), speaks with Bas Haring. Haring originally studied artificial intelligence, which at the time still fell under the umbrella of philosophy, which is why people started calling him a philosopher. He himself feels more like a ‘folk philosopher’: Haring tries to make science and philosophy accessible to a wider audience. In 2001, he published a children’s book about evolution, Cheese and the Theory of Evolution. What better springboard for a geologist and a philosopher to talk about AI?
