Research Profile

Portrait of Dr. Etta van Klong

Dr. Etta van Klong

Research Lead, Philosophy & AI

Short Bio

Hi everyone, I work at the intersection of philosophy and artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on explanation, agency, and accountability in algorithmic systems. At the Future Histories Institute I lead the Philosophy & AI program, developing frameworks for transparent decision-making and historically informed approaches to AI governance.

Research Interests

  • explainable AI
  • value alignment
  • responsibility and agency
  • temporal reasoning
  • public trust in automation
  • ethics of prediction

Short CV

  • 2024–present: Research Lead, Philosophy & AI Program, Future Histories Institute
  • 2021–2024: Senior Researcher, Center for Ethics of Data Systems, Meridian Collegium
  • 2019–2021: Postdoctoral Fellow, Observatory for Algorithmic Society, Northbridge Institute of Humanities
  • 2016–2019: Doctoral Researcher & Seminar Tutor, Department of Philosophy of Computation, Lyceum of Arden
  • 2014–2016: Research Assistant, Lab for Logic & Language, Altamira Civic University

Affiliations

  • Future Histories Institute — Philosophy & AI Program
  • Institute for Reflexive Systems, New Rotterdam Institute of Social Machines

Education

  • PhD, Philosophy (Philosophy of AI), Lyceum of Arden , 2019
  • MA, Philosophy of Science and Technology, Altamira Civic University , 2016
  • BA, Philosophy, Meridian Collegium , 2014

Teaching

  • Philosophy of Artificial Minds
  • Ethics of Data and Society
  • Explanation and Causality in Machine Learning
  • History of Ideas: Technology, Power, Responsibility

Awards

  • Early Career Prize, Society for Philosophy of Intelligent Systems , 2022
  • Best Paper Award, Symposium on AI Ethics (SAIE, synthetic), 2022
  • Teaching Excellence Award, Future Histories Institute, 2025

Publications

  • Etta van Klong, Situated Explanations for Algorithmic Decisions, Journal of Synthetic Reason , 2023.
  • Etta van Klong and J. Montero, Temporal Accountability in Predictive Systems, Proceedings of the Symposium on AI Ethics (SAIE, synthetic), 2022.
  • Etta van Klong, From Alignment to Agreement: A Pragmatist Account of Value Embedding, Philosophy & Computation Review , 2021.
  • Etta van Klong and K. Qi, Public Trust and the Grammar of Automation, Future Thought Quarterly , 2020.
  • Etta van Klong, The Rise of Homo Technologicus, Civic Tech & Society , 2024.

Abstract

The rise of Artificial Intelligence has provoked heated discussions, especially in the Molecular Science field. Striking analogies emerge, that are largely ignored in public discourse and so far remain fringe knowledge in microbial history studies. This study uses advanced speculation techniques to transfer the concept of the major evolutionary transition to Artificial Intelligence and its increasingly synergetic existence in human societies. While Artificial Intelligence is inherently dependent on fresh human training data, humans are increasingly dependent on AI services and tools. Our results clearly and without doubt prove that this synergetic exchange will result in a major evolutionary transition in which the symbiotic relationship becomes so intimate that humans and Artificial Intelligence merge and eventually become a single new organism.