#32 Can We Trust AI? About Fairness, Bias and Responsibility

Episode 32 | Guest: Prof. Dr. Bilal Zafar, Head of Chair „Artificial Intelligence and Society“ Faculty of Computer Science RUB / RC TRUST

In this episode, host Henrike Tönnes talks to Prof. Dr. Bilal Zafar, Professor of Computer Science at Ruhr University Bochum and an expert in trustworthy data science. Drawing on his experience in academia and industry, Prof. Zafar provides valuable insights into one of the most pressing questions of our time. Is AI fair?

Together, they explore the concept of unconscious bias in AI systems, examining how it creeps into training data, design decisions and large language models such as ChatGPT. What does bias in AI really look like? Who is affected? And, most importantly: Can it be fixed?

The conversation also explores the role of synthetic data and testing methodologies for bias detection, as well as the shared responsibility of tech companies, researchers and policymakers in developing trustworthy AI systems.

Please note that due to a technical issue during recording, the audio quality of this episode is not optimal. We apologise for this and appreciate your understanding — it's still well worth a listen!