From the end of March to beginning of June 2026, TUM IEAI DC Julia Li completed a research secondment at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands. While there, she worked in the Philosophy & Ethics group, within the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, under the guidance of Prof. Carlos Zednik. Ms. Li worked alongside alignAI doctoral candidate Zeynep Kabadari, who works on improving reasoning capacities of LLMs.
The time with the Philosophy & Ethics group deepened Ms. Li’s understanding of how technical and pragmatic value alignment considerations and various theories in the philosophy of technology intersect with each other. Since her return, she has been drawing on this more in theoretical work to build on the empirical research she carried out in the first year of my PhD. Being in a philosophy-oriented environment allowed Ms. Li to have contact with different perspectives on AI use in society and in particular, its role in society as a disruptive and emergent technology.
She also collaborated closely with alignAI doctoral candidate, Sharvari Bondre, who works on key enabling methodologies (KEMs). They finished the first phase of their research on the experiences of immigrant parents’ usage of AI in the Netherlands on-site. Being on site meant data analysis could be done together in person and afforded the possibility to more easily discuss ideas with each other and other colleagues.
During her stay, Ms. Li continued to work on research she is co-leading on prospective and early adopters of AI in the non-profit sector. She presented this work, together with her co-author Annabelle Bernard, at The Responsible AI Forum in Munich, 20 May 2026.
Outputs
- Completion of the first phase of a collaborative research project on chatbot use among immigrant parents in the Netherlands (with Sharvari Bondre, TU/e).
- Presentation: “Core Value Conflicts of Early and Prospective LLM and AI Adopters in the Non-profit Sector”, co-led with Annabelle Bernard, on prospective and early adopters of AI in non-profit organisations.
Takeaways
Living in the Netherlands, Ms. Li came to learn about the history of consensus politics in the country and how it has shaped public infrastructure and shared community resources. This changed how she thinks about her own work. Her ongoing research on value alignment now gives more weight to community needs identified from the ground up.
Ms. Li is grateful to Prof. Dr. Carlos Zednik, Sharvari Bondre and the Philosophy & Ethics group at TU/e for welcoming her, and to IEAI for supporting the secondment.