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Research

Research serving humanity's most valuable asset: the human brain

Founded in 2023 by Dr Hubert Etienne, Quintessence AI is a top-tier research lab studying the ethical, social, cognitive and security challenges of AI. Taboo and Ritual are direct offshoots of this research.

The founder

Dr Hubert Etienne, computational philosopher

Dr Etienne is a world-renowned scientist whose work focuses on AI ethics and human-machine interaction: from algorithmic ethics to online misinformation, and from digital trust to the cognitive impacts of AI.

Dr Etienne spent four years at Meta studying the influence of algorithms on human behaviour and overseeing the ethics of generative AI across the company's products. He then founded Quintessence AI, a scientific research laboratory that puts research at the service of people to preserve their cognitive capacities and promote the responsible use of AI.

He chairs the scientific committee of the Paris Conference on AI & Digital Ethics and sits on the French Ministry of Justice's AI Observatory.

  • AI ethics
  • Misinformation
  • Online trust
  • Social influence
  • Responsible AI
  • Transhumanism
  • Human-computer interaction
Dr Hubert Etienne
Dr Hubert EtienneCEO · Quintessence AI
© Le Point

Peer-reviewed publications

  1. [01]H. Etienne, F. Charton (2024)A Mimetic Approach to Social Influence on InstagramPhilosophy & Technologydoi:10.1007/s13347-024-00736-w
  2. [02]H. Etienne, F. Cova (2024)The more they think, the less they want: studying people's attitudes about autonomous vehicles could also contribute to shaping themAI and Ethicsdoi:10.1007/s43681-023-00385-3
  3. [03]H. Etienne, F. Cova (2023)Performative Quantification: Design Choices Impact the Lessons of Empirical Surveys About the Ethics of Autonomous VehiclesSocial Science Computer Reviewdoi:10.1177/08944393231164329
  4. [04]H. Etienne, O. Celebi (2023)Listen to What They Say: Better Understand and Detect Online Misinformation with User FeedbackJournal of Online Trust and Safetydoi:10.54501/jots.v1i5.106
  5. [05]H. Etienne, P. Fung (2022)Confucius, cyberpunk and Mr. Science: comparing AI ethics principles between China and the EUAI and Ethicsdoi:10.1007/s43681-022-00180-6
  6. [06]H. Etienne (2022)Solving moral dilemmas with AI: how it helps us address the social implications of the Covid-19 crisis and enhance human responsibility to tackle meta-dilemmasLaw, Innovation and Technologydoi:10.1080/17579961.2022.2113669
  7. [07]H. Etienne (2022)A practical role-based approach for autonomous vehicle moral dilemmasBig Data & Societydoi:10.1177/20539517221123305
  8. [08]H. Etienne (2022)Computational PhilosophyAAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES)doi:10.1145/3514094.3539562
  9. [09]H. Etienne (2021)The future of online trust (and why Deepfake is advancing it)AI and Ethicsdoi:10.1007/s43681-021-00072-1
  10. [10]H. Etienne (2021)The dark side of the 'Moral Machine' and the fallacy of computational ethical decision-making for autonomous vehiclesLaw, Innovation and Technologydoi:10.1080/17579961.2021.1898310
  11. [11]H. Etienne (2020)When AI Ethics Goes Astray: A Case Study of Autonomous VehiclesSocial Science Computer Reviewdoi:10.1177/0894439320906508

Media appearances

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Our purpose: research

  • Train transdisciplinary geniuses

    Provide an environment of excellence to train a new generation of international scientific experts.

  • Research with impact

    Transdisciplinary approaches to studying the impacts of AI and developing practical solutions to major societal challenges.

  • Constant scientific monitoring

    In-house tools to follow international research and identify emerging trends and solutions.

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