Michal Gladiš: My internship at KInIT

From October 2022 to January 2023, I had the opportunity to work as a research intern at KInIT. Being a part of the Ethics and Human Values in Technology team, I  collaborated with the researchers in AI and data ethics, philosophy, IT law, and social sciences. However, my internship was not limited only to this team. During my four months at KInIT, I was also able to  explore the other teams dealing with issues such as natural language processing, information security, user data processing, or data analytics.

My internship began with an introduction to how the institute operates. Because education plays an important role in the institute’s ecosystem, I studied relevant materials related to intelligent technologies and their societal impacts. As a member of the institute, I had access to numerous resources such as research, educational and reading seminars, and also publications by the institute’s researchers. Furthermore, I was included in online chat groups of research teams, where I learned about the newest developments, issues, and phenomena related to AI and big data. Team communication, as well as communication within the entire institute, was well organized, and occurred regularly through hybrid meetings. During those meetings, tasks were assigned and results evaluated, everything in a friendly spirit.

During my internship I participated in the preparation of several research projects (e.g. identifying biases in technologies, ethical risks of AI systems, potential harms associated with disinformation combating, etc.) where I was assigned specific tasks. At the same time, I was able to see the entire process of project solving. 

The institute informed me about the current conferences and open calls for academic papers. As a part of the conference preparation process, the researchers could consult with one another, collaborate on writing academic papers, and go through the process of proofreading and commenting by experts from various research fields. As a part of the institute, I got the opportunity to present my dissertation topic in front of the  experts and to gain valuable feedback. Together with other colleagues from KInIT, I participated in a conference where I presented my research. As a result of KInIT researchers’ international activity, I was able to establish further cooperation on projects outside the institute and connect with other researchers.

The Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies is a unique organization in Central Europe. By connecting researchers from different fields and bringing together academic and private sectors, it focuses on intelligent technology research and multidisciplinarity. I believe that  this is the right way of conducting science not only in Slovakia, but also in other parts of the world. The several months I spent at KInIT were a truly honorable experience.