OCW appoints Vanessa Evers as Chief Science Advisor AI

Scientists previously able to achieve nuclear fusion using AI, students having their profile papers written by ChatGPT and AI-generated novels that don't involve a human. At a lightning pace, AI is taking an ever-increasing place in our daily lives. Among other things, it is changing the role of the teacher in education and how we organise education. AI is also increasingly being used in scientific publications. Much research is already being done in science on the impact of AI on the education, culture and media sectors. To encourage that the latest knowledge is properly involved in policy-making, OCW will appoint Prof Vanessa Evers as Chief Science Advisor with a focus on the impact of AI as of 1 November. Evers is also currently director of the Centre for Mathematics & Computer Science and a professor at the University of Twente. She will fulfil the role of Chief Science Advisor AI for one day a week.

Secretary general Loes Mulder: ''By appointing an independent scientist as Chief Science Advisor AI, we, as the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, want to continue to encourage greater use of state-of-the-art scientific knowledge in policy-making. By doing so, we ensure good cooperation between science and policy, and contribute to solutions in response to the challenges currently posed by the use of AI.''

Chief Science Advisor AI

The Chief Science Advisor is an independent, scientific advisor. She will bring an outside scientific perspective on the impact of AI on education, culture and media sectors directly to the ministry. In her advisory role, she will connect knowledge from the Dutch AI research field and from scientific advisory boards to policymakers within OCW. This advice will contribute to answering and interpreting challenges OCW is currently working on; such as the knowledge and skills people need to participate in the digital society, how to deal with the changing way art, music and literature are produced and experienced, and avoiding undesirable dependencies on (private) AI providers.

The Chief Science Advisor AI has been appointed as part of a pilot within the project Science for policy. In this project, OCW encourages linking science, practice and policy in new ways so that policymakers can incorporate insights from different sciences into policy earlier and better.

About Vanessa Evers

Prof Vanessa Evers (b. 1974) is a researcher in the field of interaction with intelligent systems. Her research includes AI, robotics and autonomous systems, with a strong focus on how these innovations can improve people's lives. Evers is professor of Human Media Interaction at the University of Twente, member of the Supervisory Board of Radboud University and was appointed director of the Centre for Mathematics & Computer Science (CWI) this year.