About Katleen Gabriëls

We design technology, technology designs us

There is no doubt that over the past decades technology has marked fundamental changes in society, impacting vital aspects in our lives. In spite of it having a positive effect on our lives at which things have become effortlessly efficient, prof. Katleen Gabriels at TU Eindhoven believes caution remains necessary. Researching the relationship between contemporary technologies and mortality, Kathleen argues that technology is never neutral as it is constantly shaping our actions, norms and values. In our current internet-induced society, she warns for biased algorithms making decisions about us and for us. In her talk entitled “We design technology, technology designs us”, she profoundly discusses why the soft ethical implications of technology should equally well be considered, while concurrently aiming to raise awareness on the matter from the user’s as well as designer’s perspective. Register for TEDxUHasselt 2018, and learn why we should not only heed the hard impacts of disruptive innovations.