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Trust of traditional political institutions and elected representatives, rise of authoritarian logics, definition of public services... Democracy today seems to be going through a turbulent zone. What role does the university play in this context? To shed light on this question, we interviewed four researchers from different disciplines: educationalist Sephora Boucenna, philosopher Louis Carré, political scientist Vincent Jacquet and legal scholar Aline Nardi. Their contrasting views sketch out the contours of an issue that is more topical than ever: thinking about and defending the link between university and democracy.

Can we still speak of democracy when algorithms influence our electoral choices or participate in the drafting of laws? This topic is explored by Aline Nardi, researcher at the Faculty of Law and member of the Namur Digital Institute (NADI).

The Namur Digital Institute (NaDI) is launching a series of original events: "Les Séances du Numérique". Films followed by debates with experts to understand digital challenges and stimulate collective thinking. A project spearheaded by Anthony Simonofski, Anne-Sophie Collard, Benoît Vanderose and Fanny Barnabé.

In recent years, public debate has been regularly disrupted by various attempts to distort "information." While this phenomenon is as old as information itself, digital technology, the powerful interactivity offered by online platforms, and recent developments in generative artificial intelligence have given it a whole new dimension. Manipulated online information spreads virally, reaching internet users around the world in a matter of minutes. It poses serious risks to society and threatens democracy and the rule of law. To see this, one need only recall events such as the US and French presidential elections, the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the terrorist attack at the Nova festival in 2023, and the war in Gaza.  Faced with this phenomenon, actors from all sectors have been mobilizing for several years. This conference offers a legal perspective on the manipulation of online information in relation to freedom of expression and the right to information from the point of view of European law. It focuses, on the one hand, on the response of the European Union legislator to combat online disinformation and, on the other hand, on mechanisms for protecting "quality" information.Free admission.

AbstractThe increasing regulatory pressure on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), particularly in Europe, has made compliance a critical yet complex challenge for industry stakeholders. Many of these CPS are often long-lived systems with legacy code and limited (or no) access to representative documentation. This poses a problem when these systems must comply with newer regulatory frameworks. Indeed, current conformity assessment practices rely predominantly on documentation review and operational observations, while the analysis of software artifacts remains underutilized. This situation is compounded by a persistent communication gap between legal experts and engineers, and a lack of systematic traceability between high-level regulatory obligations and low-level technical implementations. Such a disconnect frequently leads to inconsistencies detected late in the development process, increasing correction costs and delaying time-to-market. Furthermore, the growing complexity of regulations, such as the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), contributes to the perception that compliance hinders innovation.Transitioning from theoretical frameworks to industrial implementation presents significant challenges. During this research, efforts to validate the approach in real-world production environments were hampered by restricted access to sensitive data and architectures, as well as the inherent risks of intrusive analysis in highly interconnected systems. Consequently, this thesis emphasizes a conceptual framework validated through modular prototypes and isolated CPS categories (e.g., medical devices), demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed methods where full-scale production deployment is not yet feasible.This thesis addresses these challenges by investigating how regulatory requirements can be transformed into structured, traceable, and partially automatable elements directly linked to software artifacts. The research adopts an industry-grounded exploratory approach structured around three main axes: (1) the formalization of regulatory requirements to bridge the semantic gap between legal and technical domains; (2) the extraction of system functionalities from source code using Large Language Models; and (3) a unified framework, supported by tool prototypes, to bridge expected system behavior and actual implementation through evidence-based assessment.By combining regulatory analysis, software engineering, and AI-based methods, this work contributes to redefining compliance as a continuous, traceability-driven process. Ultimately, it aims to support a paradigm shift toward “compliant-by-design” systems, enabling earlier detection of discrepancies and better alignment between regulatory intent and technical implementation in complex CPS environments.JuryPhD, P.Eng. Jun YAN, Concordia University, CanadaProf., Ph.D., Fuyuki ISHIKAWA, National Institute of Informatics, JapanPh.D., Paolo ARCAINI, National Institute of Informatics, JapanProf., Ph.D., Benoît VANDEROSE, University of Namur, BelgiumProf., PhD, Anthony CLEVE, University of Namur, BelgiumProf., PhD, Xavier DEVROEY, University of Namur, Belgium

Contact Co-President Bruno Dumas anthony.simonofski@unamur.be Co-President Alexandre de Streel xavier.devroey@unamur.be S'affilier Si vous souhaitez vous affilier ou si vous souhaitez modifier votre affiliation, rendez-vous sur la page "affiliation aux instituts de recherche". Organization Discover the members

What happens when AI knows a great deal about you? This fifth session of the “What If AI?” series explores the profiling and data collection mechanisms that enable artificial intelligence systems to predict behaviors, preferences, and decisions.Drawing on well-known examples such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the speakers will highlight the issues of surveillance, manipulation, and personalization. This session aims to encourage critical reflection on our tolerance for profiling and to provide tools for better protecting our privacy in an increasingly data-driven world. Je m'inscris

Is artificial intelligence reliable? Can it make up information without us realizing it? This second session in the “What If AI?” series sheds light on the phenomenon of AI “hallucinations”—errors that can sometimes seem credible and may have significant consequences, particularly in professional settings.Drawing on real-world examples, such as reports containing false references, the speakers will explain why these errors occur, what their technical causes are, and how to detect them. An interactive activity will invite the audience to distinguish between true and false information in AI-generated responses, while exploring the limitations of solutions such as prompt engineering.The goal: to develop a critical perspective on AI responses and gain a better understanding of its limitations. Je m'inscris

AI is often perceived as neutral and objective. But is that really the case? This third session of the “What If AI?” series examines the biases and discrimination that can be embedded in artificial intelligence systems, drawing on striking examples such as biased recruitment and judicial algorithms.Through demonstrations and interactive experiments, the session aims to debunk the myth of technological neutrality and explore ways to design more equitable and inclusive systems. Je m'inscris

What if you confided your doubts, emotions, or sensitive information to artificial intelligence? This first session of the “What If AI?” series explores the uses of AI in personal and sometimes intimate contexts, where tools like chatbots become trusted confidants. Drawing on real-world examples—including the use of ChatGPT for psychological support or to handle confidential data—the speakers will analyze the technical inner workings of these systems as well as the legal issues related to privacy protection.The audience will be invited to discover, step by step, what lies behind an AI-generated response: which actors are involved, how data flows, and what risks this entails. Through a fun, interactive activity, everyone will be able to better understand the implications of their interactions with these tools and reflect on the boundaries that should be set. Je m'inscris

Artificial intelligence creates, imitates, and transforms content on a large scale. But who owns these creations? And what happens to the works used to train these models? This fourth session of the “What If AI?” series addresses the intellectual property issues related to generative AI.Drawing on recent cases involving the use of copyrighted works to train models, the speakers will explain the tensions between technological innovation and respect for copyright. This session will provide insights into the current challenges facing intellectual property law in the face of these technologies and the implications for creators. Je m'inscris