We welcome Prof. Dr. Roger Søraa and Silvia Ecclesia from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology University (NTNU). All the way from Trondheim, Norway, they present the four-year Horizon project "BIAS", researching AI, work, and bias.

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Artificial Intelligence is increasingly used in recruitment, from screening CVs to analyzing interviews. While it promises efficiency and fairness, it also risks reinforcing inequalities. The European project BIAS explores these issues from different perspectives, including social science research on how AI is understood and applied in hiring. This talk will provide an overview of the project’s aims and findings and then take a closer look at fieldwork with HR practitioners in Italy. These insights show how practitioners balance hopes for AI to make their work fairer with fears of replacement, and how ideas of bias and objectivity shape their trust in the technology.

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Roger A. Søraa is Professor in Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Senior Researcher at NTNU Social Research. His main research interests are the digitalization and robotization of society, especially on the topics of work and health, its epistemological consequences, and inclusion and diversity issues. He leads the research group “Digitalization and robotization of society” (DigiKULT) and the European project BIAS. He is the author of books such as “AI for diversity” and “Digitalization: societal change, user perspectives, and critical thinking.”

Silvia Ecclesia is a PhD candidate in Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Her research investigates sociotechnical imaginaries of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in particular in the context of work, with attention to their relationship to AI ethics. She is part of the Horizon Europe project “BIAS: Mitigating diversity biases in the labor market”.