The Head of State presided over the “Vencer o Adamastor” Award ceremony, which recognized Sérgio Jesus’s PhD thesis on fairness and explainability in artificial intelligence.
The “Vencer o Adamastor” Award ceremony was held for the first time at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), honouring the PhD thesis of Sérgio Jesus on artificial intelligence. Presided over by the President of the Portuguese Republic, António José Seguro, the event was marked by a warning about the risks that AI poses to democracy when used without clear rules and accountability mechanisms.
“Democracy requires something very simple, yet at the same time very difficult: that decisions affecting people can be understood, challenged, and corrected by people. Decisions controlled by human beings,” he stated.
Referring to Sérgio Jesus’s thesis, “Robust Evaluation of Fairness and Explainability in Artificial Intelligence”, the President stressed that when an algorithm makes decisions without explaining the criteria behind them, “there is no accountability,” which is one of the essential requirements of a democratic society.
“The greatest risk is not AI that makes bad decisions; it is AI that makes bad decisions while appearing to make the right ones,” he said. António José Seguro warned that democracy is “deeply at risk” if AI continues “along a path without any rules.”
Research that contributes to the future improvement of AI
Sérgio Jesus’s research demonstrated that, even when designed with the best intentions and under human supervision, AI can become a machine that jumps to conclusions, amplifying biases and leading to more errors. The FCUP PhD graduate developed an evaluation methodology inspired by clinical trials and tested it on a large scale with professional fraud analysts.
According to the new Rector of the University of Porto, Pedro Nuno Teixeira, in what was his first visit to FCUP since taking office, “our response to AI should be driven neither by fear nor by fascination.” Faced with “the major societal and technological challenge we are confronting,” he added, the appropriate attitude is one of “continuous questioning.”
He then highlighted Sérgio Jesus’s work and the importance of his research in contributing to the “future improvement” of artificial intelligence, making its use “more responsible and more ethical.”
Also attending the ceremony, the Secretary of State for Education, Science and Innovation, Helena Canhão, emphasized the significance of the thesis, which was developed in an industrial setting through close collaboration with Feedzai, a data science company. “We recognize the role of the Faculty of Sciences and the University of Porto in opening themselves to society and to industry,” she said.
“We believe in our students’ talent”
During the ceremony, the FCUP PhD graduate presented the results of his award-winning research and acknowledged the key role of his supervisors: Rita Ribeiro and João Gama, faculty members at FCUP and the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto, respectively, both researchers at INESC TEC, as well as Pedro Saleiro, Chief AI Officer at Opnova.
With enthusiasm and a smile, Sérgio Jesus received the €20,000 award and also heard words of praise from the Dean of FCUP, Ana Cristina Freire:
“He is an example of a unique journey that, through hard work, dedication, and hope, has built its own path.”
“At FCUP, we believe in our students’ talent by providing them with opportunities for daily growth, embracing their challenges, encouraging them to push their limits, and allowing them to discover new abilities. In return, they inspire us with their creativity, resilience, and determination to make a difference,” she added.
For the Dean of FCUP, the ceremony had a “special” significance, celebrating “more than an award.”
“We are celebrating the ability to overcome difficulties, to transform obstacles into opportunities, and to move forward even when the path becomes more demanding,” she remarked.
In this way, FCUP has taken an important step towards helping to “defeat the Adamastor,” which, in the words of the President of the Republic, is today “the algorithm that makes decisions without explaining them.”
The “Vencer o Adamastor” Award is an initiative of the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering (INESC), in partnership with the newspaper PÚBLICO. It recognizes innovative work by young scientists in the field of information and communication technologies that demonstrates not only scientific excellence but also strong potential for economic development.
