Pieter Ballon

Author

Professor Pieter Ballon gained his master’s degree in Modern History from KU Leuven and his PhD in Communication Sciences at VUB. He has taught Communication Sciences at VUB since 2009. Since 2016, he has been director of SMIT, an imec research group at VUB focusing on ‘Studies in Media, Innovation and Technology’. Pieter Ballon was appointed the first Brussels Smart City Ambassador and is also the International Secretary for the European Network of Living Labs. His publications include the book “Smart Cities: how technology keeps our cities livable and makes them smarter”.

Black-and-white portrait of Pieter Ballon seated against a dark background, wearing glasses and a sweater.

Authored articles

Robotic arms in a cleanroom moving components along an automated production line

Fewer jobs or fewer accidents?

13/05/2019
Artificial intelligence

How can we make sure that AI systems – such as robots – will really help us and not snatch our jobs away from us? Pieter Ballon, director of SMIT, an imec research group at VUB, sheds light on the matter.

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Woman with arms raised on a city street as pigeons fly around her near historic buildings.

AI, surprise me!

07/05/2019
Artificial intelligence

People are predictable. Algorithms can find out exactly what you are looking for. Now, while that may be handy when it comes to Netflix, is it really what we want in a smart city? Perhaps we need to take a fresh look at AI to give the city and its local traders additional pulling power.

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Black-and-white portrait of Pieter Ballon seated against a dark background, wearing glasses and a sweater.

Pieter Ballon on living with AI

04/01/2019
Artificial intelligence

AI systems will become our workmates. Workmates we understand and trust.

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City skyline at dusk with a network graphic overlay connecting buildings and lights

Results of the imec Smart City Meter survey

05/06/2017

First survey on smart city services: 88% are worried about privacy – but 63% are willing to share data nonetheless.

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Blurred crowd of people beneath colorful lights at an event venue

Vision: A living lab for smart cities worldwide

01/01/2017
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