About.

Hi, I’m Niels, an AI designer from Belgium, and I’m very interested in how we can develop AI products for audiences from different geocultural backgrounds.

Each time I travel, I become more and more enthralled by the huge variety of people and cultures. And with my background in human-centered design and AI, I became very curious on how you can build AI solutions for all those different people and cultures.

How can you build products that on the one hand get adopted by people, but on the other hand also simply fit those specific people and cultures? I think achieving that can be a win win for everyone. 

A cow stuck with its head in a waste bin on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, India.

So why am I of all people exploring AI in different geocultural contexts? Well, I personally made the above picture of a cow stuck with its head in a waste bin on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, India. I also made the picture below of people willingly getting shot with fireworks in Tainan, Taiwan, including myself and SpongeBob.

People willingly getting shot with fireworks in Tainan, Taiwan.

What I’m saying is.. oh, one more? Ok. I also made the picture below of a heater hanging near the ceiling in Warsaw, Poland. So, to continue what I was saying, I already have a nack and passion for exploring the endless unexpected elements in real world contexts.

A heater hanging near the ceiling in Warsaw, Poland.

Also, I have a PhD. Well, la-di-da. I know.. I even used design and qualitative methods. Auwch. Look, don’t worry. I know the quantitative people are way way (yes, two times way) smarter than me. But here’s the thing, we really need to use qualitative methods as well to create AI solutions that actually get adopted by diverse geocultural audiences.

In the end, A.I. systems need to be used outside of the lab in the real world. Purely technical solutions will only get us so far.

If that interests you, feel free to send me a message!