What does freedom mean to you?
For me, freedom is the fullest expression of choice, which enables a perception of control, free will and a sense of well-being. When I imagine myself as “free”,  I picture running in the mountains, able to choose whichever route I feel like in the moment and not bounded by worries.

How does freedom feature in your work?
The topic of freedom features in my work in two key ways. First, from a human rights perspective, on the topics of modern-day slavery, sexual exploitation and other exploitative crimes. Over the last few years, I have investigated how digital data and responsible AI can be used to help identify, understand and prevent these infringements of freedom and rights. Second, from a psychological perspective, I am interested in the flip side of AI and how increasing algorithm use in society can act as an infringement on our agency and alter our perceptions of free will.

What project(s) are you working on during your fellowship at the Forum Basiliense?
I am mainly focused on a project that investigates heterogeneity in AI performance to understand whether certain psychological characteristics make individuals more or less predictable by algorithms. This topic is important as algorithm performance is typically only communicated at the level of the sample population or broad demographic groups. Yet, the performance of algorithms can affect our available choices, the information presented to us, and can ultimately nudge our decisions and change our behavior. Thus, AI has the potential to influence an individual’s agency for some more than others. Thus, understanding heterogeneity in AI performance from an individual perspective is crucial to fully inform and protect potentially vulnerable people in society. For this project, I will utilise a highly comprehensive anonymised Danish register dataset linked to a psychological panel survey (N=13,000) with informed consent.