Chiara Natali

Hi everyone! I am Chiara Natali, a new postdoc in Hybrid Intelligence working across the KAI and UCDS groups. I am from Italy and have a background that is, quite fittingly, very “hybrid”: Political Science (BSc), Philosophy (MA), and Computer Science (PhD). At VU and UU, I am working with Ilaria Tiddi, Victor de Boer, and Davide Dell’Anna on a three-year project on defining and assessing what constitutes “HI-ness” in hybrid intelligence systems, creating toolboxes of design patterns, metrics and over-arching ontologies, with a strong emphasis on collaboration across research groups. I believe that valuable research emerges from engaging with questions that cut across disciplinary boundaries. During my PhD, I kickstarted a research community around Frictional AI (or friction-in-design) as a counterpoint to the dominant logic of seamlessness and speed, asking instead what happens when we prioritise human agency and cognitive engagement over automated efficiency. If that resonates, I would be glad to continue the conversation — ideally over coffee, or better, tea. If you do not find me in the office, I am likely in a gluten-free bakery or a jazz club.