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BrIAS Forum: Europe’s Vision on Responsible AI: Research, Practice, Policy
The Brussels Responsible AI Network (BRAIN) Forum is a one-day event that invites researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from Belgium and beyond to discuss the latest advances in AI and its societal implications. It is part of the BrIAS series of public forums.
BRAIN brings together the three Belgian AI research programmes:
- the AI for the Common Good Institute (FARI) in Brussels;
- the Trusted AI Labs (TRAIL) of the Walloon and Brussels regions;
- and the Flanders AI Research programme (FAIR).
Sessions
The BRAIN Forum is structured around four sessions:
- The research session provides an expert-driven overview of emerging trends in responsible AI.
- The practice session explores practical perspectives on implementing responsible AI.
- The policy session addresses Europe’s global position on responsible AI.
- The networking session aims to foster collaboration among Belgian AI labs and provides a platform for participants to present their expertise and project ideas.
Program
| 08:00 | Doors Open | |
| 08:30 | 09:00 | Welcome and Introduction |
| 09:00 | 10:40 | Session 1 – Research |
| 10:40 | 11:00 | Coffee Break |
| 11:00 | 13:00 | Session 2 – Practice |
| 13:00 | 14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | 15:30 | Session 3 – Policy |
| 15:30 | 16:00 | Coffee Break |
| 16:00 | 17:30 | Session 4 – Networking |
| 17:30 | Reception |
Session 1 – Research – Advancing Responsible AI: Developments at the Research Level
This session provides an expert-driven overview of emerging research trends in responsible AI.
| 09:00 | 09:25 | Jerzy Stefanowski (Poznan University of Technology, Poland) “The Role of Counterfactual Explanations: New Methods and Open Challenges” |
| 09:25 | 09:50 | Kostas Stefanidis (Tampere University, Finland) “Responsible Recommender Systems” |
| 09:50 | 10:15 | Eirini Ntoutsi (Bundeswehr University Munich, Germany) “From Single Focus to Intersectional Perspective: Tackling Multi-dimensional Discrimination in AI” |
| 10:15 | 10:40 | Willem Zuidema (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) “The Explanation Conundrum: Why XAI Methods Don’t Work Well Enough Yet for AI That Really Matters” |
Session 2 – Practice – Implementing Responsible AI: Approaches from Research Programs, Academia, and Industry
This session includes practical perspectives on responsible AI from the three Belgian AI research programs (FARI, FAIR, and TRAIL), academia, and industry.
| 11:00 | 11:15 | Tom Lenaerts (ULB, Belgium) “If FARI Is the Answer, What Was the Question?” |
| 11:15 | 11:30 | Pierre Geurts (ULiège, Belgium) “The Perspective of TRAIL (Trusted AI Labs) on Responsible AI” |
| 11:30 | 11:45 | Sabine Demey (Flanders AI Research program and imec, Belgium) “The Perspective of FAIR (Flanders AI Research program) on Responsible AI” |
| 11:45 | 12:15 | Ambrish Rawat (IBM Research, Ireland) “Securing Generative AI” |
| 12:15 | 12:45 | Panagiotis Germanakos (SAP SE, Germany) “Trust in AI: The Human-Computer Interaction Perspective” |
Session 3 – Policy – Shaping Responsible AI: Europe’s Global Position on Responsible AI
This session includes presentations and a panel on the EU’s policy and strategic approach to responsible AI, featuring insights from the European AI Office.
| 14:00 | 15:00 | Opening Statements |
| Milena Machała (European AI Office) “The EU AI Strategy” |
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| Yves Moreau (KU Leuven, Belgium) “Dual-Use Research in the Horizon Program: Feeding an AI Arms Race?” |
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| Sabine Demey (Flanders AI Research program and imec, Belgium) “Responsible AI Is Crucial for Value Creation With AI at Scale” |
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| Grégory Lewkowicz (ULB, Belgium) “Will the European Digital Omnibus Run Over Responsible AI?” |
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| Benoît Frénay (UNamur, Belgium) “Implementing the AI Act: Mission Impossible?” |
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| Pieter Libin (VUB, Belgium) “Why We Need a CERN, Not a Manhattan Project” |
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| 15:00 | 15:30 | Panel Discussion |
| Moderated by Rob Heyman (VUB, Belgium) |
Session 4 – Networking – Connecting for Responsible AI: Showcasing Project Ideas and Research Expertise
This session fosters networking among members of Belgium’s three AI research programmes and explores opportunities for collaboration.
16:00 17:30 : Flash Presentations
- Axel Abels (ULB, Belgium)
01. “Wisdom From Diversity: Bias Mitigation Through Hybrid Human-LLM Crowds” - Alessandra Calvi (VUB, Belgium)
02. “Enhancing AI Fairness Through Impact Assessment” - Benoît Frénay (UNamur, Belgium)
03. “When Sign Language Meets AI: Interplay Between Societal Needs and Fundamental Research” - Antonios Kontaxakis (ULB, Belgium)
04. “Optimization for Sustainable Development of AI Applications” - Yves Moreau (KU Leuven, Belgium)
05. “Towards an Ethical Culture in Technology: Educating STEM Students and Researchers” - Ikhtiyor Nematov (ULB, Belgium)
06. “Data Attribution: From Conventional ML to LLM” - Seddouk Rachid
07. “When Artificial Intelligence and Collective Intelligence Converge” - Apurva Shah (ULB & VUB, Belgium)
08. “Artificial Delegates Resolve Fairness Issues in Perpetual Voting With Partial Turnout” - Manel Slokom (CWI, the Netherlands)
09. “Personalized Post-Processing: How Input Data Shift Recommendation Diversity?” - Thomas Vandamme (ULB, Belgium)
10. “Algorithmic Confusion” - Joost Vennekens (VUB, Belgium)
11. “Neurosymbolic AI for Social Cognition”
The BRAIN Forum is co-organised by the Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies (BrIAS), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), AI for the Common Good Institute (FARI), and Université de Namur (UNamur), with funding from the Brussels Institute of Advanced Studies (BrIAS), the Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS), and the European Union.