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Ruud Hortensius is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University who specializes in understanding social cognition through interactions with artificial intelligence (AI) and social robots. His research employs an interdisciplinary approach, leveraging insights from psychology and social neuroscience to investigate how new technologies can enhance social behavior. Hortensius focuses on neurocognition in real-world interactions, seeking to break away from traditional lab measurements of artificial behavior. He integrates self-reports, behavioral observations, and neural measures to study the impact of AI on social life. His research addresses questions such as 'Can friends be robots?' by examining the effects of AI on social cognitive processes like empathy and emotion. In 2023, he received the Rising Star award from the Association of Psychological Research for his contributions to the field. Actively engaging with the public, Hortensius orchestrates events that facilitate nuanced discussions about AI, including an artist-in-residency project that translates emotion perception research into community art. He is also involved in the AI Helpdesk initiative, which aims to provide scientifically-sound answers to citizens' questions about AI. Additionally, he is a member of the Utrecht Young Academy as of March 2023.
Utrecht University • Utrecht, Netherlands
Researching the intersection of social cognition and artificial intelligence.
Department of Psychology