Daily life at IAS

Good morning! Another beautiful day in Amsterdam (yes, my fellowship was in springtime). I start my day at IAS by greeting everyone at the front office. I make my coffee. And I walk up the stairs to the White Office, where I find the other fellows often working in deep focus. I join them in this old Amsterdam building with a modern interior design. Its windows overlook the canals. At 12:30, I go down to the lunchroom… and that’s where the magic happens.

Sounds simple, right? Gather a bunch of people every day around a lunch table, and conversations will flow. Well, this simple idea is what makes IAS a true hub for interdisciplinary research. Let me elaborate. Sure, institutions always post events about upcoming talks. But nothing replaces lunch with someone who genuinely sparks your curiosity in a topic. Then they say, 'Hey, I’m giving a talk about this on day X upstairs in the library room,' and of course, you will have to attend. 

Weekly events, a place of connection

I work at the intersection of AI and society. At IAS, I was excited to follow the AI, media, and democracy group’s work (duh, obviously!), and the Dutch Institute for Emergent Phenomena (DIEP). My previous work also explores how cooperation and delegation emerge in hybrid populations of humans and AI agents, making it a no-brainer. What I didn’t yet know was how interested I would be in connecting with the Center for Urban Mental Health. Currently, they are also interested in AI therapy bots and their impact on clinical practice. Or how relevant I would find the Monday sessions on Shaping Interfaces Between Science and the Public, where we try to help policy catch up with science in urgent topics. And where (you guessed it), some of the sessions are fully dedicated to AI and society. 

It’s an understatement to say that “my fellowship at IAS contributed to me personally as a professional, helped me make new connections, and refine ideas.” But it did all that, and more. IAS was the nest I needed to nurture a full research agenda as an early-career researcher. More importantly, it was where I met many people willing to engage with my work. And where I felt comfortable inviting those already on this path: previous and current colleagues, co-authors, friends, and even my mum (who, like many other IAS fellows’ mums, also had the pleasure to meet Edwina).

Coming back home

Research shows that brief daily interactions increase well-being. My fellowship proposal was inspired by this. And damn… little did I know how real it would feel. I applied to this fellowship together with Prof. Shaul Shalvi, a connection that stemmed from a brief interaction at a previous conference. We decided to work together on people’s interactions with generative AI and how they affect their well-being. Three months isn’t enough to complete such a project, at least from conceptualization to publication. We haven’t crossed that finish line yet. But we’re moving at a great pace, and data collection is coming soon. And many other finish lines will follow. The IAS fellowship does not end with the stay, and it’s not meant to.

I came to work with Shaul. But I leave with many new collaborations at different stages. These stemmed from my fellowship’s kick-off event, talks in IAS labs, lunchtime conversations, and tipsy interactions at the IAS festival. And as I told Julia: please make it yearly. I would love to come back again and again to experience all the best parts of IAS, even if just for a unique week of very cool events.