Acknowledgements

Over the past years, I was fortunate to benefit from the help and inspiration of a large number of people, without which my doctorate, and hence this book, would not have seen the light of day.

I must start with Geert Van Calster, my doktorvater who welcomed me with open arms at KU Leuven in 2017. He provided me with freedom and support to shape my own – slightly atypical – path, and cheered for me every step of the way. I also wish to thank Bart Raymaekers, my co-supervisor, who already noted my passion for philosophy when I was a mere bachelor student, and who encouraged me to pursue it ever since. Karen Yeung has been an invaluable addition to this team of supervisors, and a guardian angel. She not only elevated the quality of this work with her brilliant insight and push for excellence, but she has also been a role model to me ever since I met her.

Next, I would like to thank the members of my doctoral examination committee. Elise Muir and Peggy Valcke, two leading illustrations of female power in academia, offered their guidance, advice, feedback and bighearted support all along the way, for which I sincerely thank them. I also wish to thank Iris van Domselaar for her time and kind encouragement, and for showing how beautiful and necessary the marriage of law and philosophy can be. Wouter Devroe and Ilse Samoy deserve gratitude not only for chairing the examination committee but also for welcoming more AI-related activities at the Faculty. I would like to thank Mark Coeckelbergh and Luc De Raedt, who were members of my supervisory committee, and whose insightful feedback on earlier drafts of my thesis challenged my thinking and undoubtedly enriched its results.

During the course of my doctoral degree in law, I also pursued a degree in philosophy, which inspired this work and can be seen as complementary thereto. I therefore wish to warmly thank Roger Vergauwen and Luc Anckaert, who supervised and stimulated my philosophical endeavours.

My colleagues at KU Leuven (both at the Faculty of Law and the Leuven Institute for AI) and at New York University School of Law not only supported me academically but also offered laughter and friendship, which made my work on this book so much more enjoyable. I owe special thanks to Federico Jorge Gaxiola Lappe, the very first reader of this manuscript, and the best possible teammate one can imagine.

Outside of academia, I wish to thank the people who contributed to the AI policy experience I gained on the ground. Many thanks go to my former colleagues at the European Commission, and the members of the High-Level Expert Group on AI. At the Council of Europe, I wish to thank the great team I got to work with, and the lovely members of the CAHAI. Many thanks also to the people at the OECD, UNICRI and UNESCO, and to the passionate people at AI4Belgium.

There is another set of people I wish to highlight, and these are the fantastic members of the AI Summer School family. It has been a privilege to get to know them and to share the programme’s interdisciplinary experience together.

I also owe thanks to the Flanders Research Foundation (FWO) for granting me a fellowship to conduct this research, and for providing me with the flexibility to pursue policy activities on the side, which significantly contributed to this work. Many thanks also go to NYU’s Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice, where I wrapped up this book as an Emile Noël Fellow, and to the Belgian American Educational Foundation.

Yet the greatest thanks go to my family and friends, who stood by me all these years and who provided me with continuous encouragement and perspective. I hope they realise how grateful I am for their (non-academic) support, in countless different ways, which not only contributed to this book but immensely enriched my life. Large chunks of this book were written in a small town in France called Grabels, a place that merits special acknowledgement, as do the people who made my writing time there so enjoyable. Thank you.