Positions

• 2023-present:
  Researcher, Sustainable AI Lab, Institute for Science and Ethics (IWE), University of Bonn (Germany)

• April 2025:
  Visiting Researcher, Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney (Australia)

• 2019-2023:
  PhD student, Section Philosophy, University of Twente (The Netherlands)

• May-July 2022:
  Visiting Graduate Student, Institute for History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST), University of Toronto (Canada)

• October 2021-January 2022:
  Visiting Researcher, Rathenau Instituut, The Hague (The Netherlands)

Degrees

• September 2023:
  PhD in AI Ethics, University of Twente (The Netherlands)

• June 2019:
  MA in Applied Ethics, Linköping University (Sweden)

• July 2018:
  MA in Philosophy, KU Leuven (Belgium)

• July 2017:
  BA in Philosophy and Political Science, KU Leuven (Belgium)

Awards

• June 2019:
  Achievement Award for excellence in the 1-year international master´s programme Applied Ethics (Linköping University)

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles

• Waelen, R. (2025). Rethinking automation and the future of work with Hannah Arendt. Journal of Business Ethics. 

• Waelen, R. (2025). The desirability of automizing labor: An overview. Philosophy Compass. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.70023 

• Waelen, R. (2024). Philosophical lessons for emotion recognition technology. Mind & Machines. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-024-09671-3 

• Waelen, R. (2023). A historical and ethical analysis of the constitutive effects of cameras. Journal of Human Technology Relations, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.59490/jhtr.2023.1.7006

• Waelen, R. (2023). The ethics of computer vision: An overview in terms of power. AI and Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-023-00272-x

• Waelen, R., & Wieczorek, M. (2022). The struggle for AI’s recognition: Understanding the normative implications of gender bias in AI with Honneth’s theory of recognition. Philosophy & Technology, 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-022-00548-w

• Waelen, R. (2022). The struggle for recognition in the age of facial recognition technology. AI and Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-022-00146-8

• Waelen, R. (2022). Why AI ethics is a critical theory. Philosophy & Technology, 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-022-00507-5

• Waelen, R. (2021). De zin van sterfelijkheid. Podium voor Bio-Ethiek, 28(2). https://nvbioethiek.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/20210618-podium-21-2-digitaal.pdf

Book chapters

• Waelen, R. & Bolte, L. (Forthcoming 2025). Artificial Intelligence, Critical Theory, and the Concept of Progress. In M. Hähnel & R. Müller (Eds.) A Companion to Applied Philosophy of AI. Wiley.  

• Waelen, R. (2023). A critical approach to AI ethics. In S. Lindgren (Ed.), Handbook of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence. Edward Elgar Publishing. 

• Waelen, R., & Brey, P. A. E. (2022). Ethical dimensions of facial recognition and video analytics in surveillance. In M. Boylan, & W. Teays (Eds.), Ethics in the AI, Technology, and Information Age (pp. 217-231). Rowman & Littlefield.
  
  

Book reviews

• Waelen, R. (2025). Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labour Powering AI by James Muldoon, Mark Graham and Callum Cant. Capital & Class. https://doi.org/10.1177/03098168251317565

• Waelen, R. (2025). Simon Lindgren – A Critical Theory of AI. AI & Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02205-0

• Waelen, R. (2022). Boekbespreking: Wij, Robots. Een filosofische blik op technologie en artificiële intelligentie. Privacy en Informatie, 2.
  
  

Dissertation

• Waelen, R. (2023). The power of computer vision. A critical analysis. https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/the-power-of-computer-vision-a-critical-analysis

Research focus

• AI ethics

• Applied ethics

• Practical philosophy

• Philosophy of technology

• Critical theory

• Social and political philosophy