Internship | Why? What is the hypothesis? Hypothesis generation for situational understanding in AI

Internship: Hypothesis Generation for Situational Understanding in AI

About this position

Situational understanding is important within future use of AI. Whereas situational awareness focuses on collecting as much information about a situation as possible, situational understanding focuses on interpretation of this information. What is happening or going to happen? What is the "why?" behind the observations? Hypothesis generation focuses on the formulation of possible explanations for the situation; formulating possible "why?"-s. The goal of this assignment is to develop a system that can suggest plausible hypotheses, given contextual information and observational data.

What will be your role?

Given (limited) available observational data, you will suggest a likely hypothesis that explains the situation by combining generative AI with validation, learning, and constraining. Both contextual knowledge and actual observations are considered in this process. Generative AI is used to use AI’s creativity to produce possible explanations. Note that generative AI is known to be hallucinating, therefore model validation, learning, and constraining methods (for example Inductive Logic Programming) are used to filter and guide the results towards reliable explanations.

You will perform this assignment within TNO’s Intelligent Imaging department. The Intelligent Imaging department is a passionate, creative, and dedicated team of professionals (60 people) specialized in developing groundbreaking applications in the field of computer vision. Our team members have diverse backgrounds, ranging from the medical field to artificial intelligence. Intelligent Imaging is a young and growing department which has built up a lot of expertise over the past years in AI and deep learning.

What we expect from you

Are you interested in the explanations of situations? Then this position may be a fit for you! We are looking for a student that has an interest in AI, reasoning, and understanding. You are enthusiastic about combining generative models with learning and testing on limited data, to obtain the best of both worlds. You can communicate and discuss your ideas within the team to inspire and get inspired.

Additional requirements include that you are in the final stages of your master's degree in artificial intelligence, computer science, physics, mathematics, electrical engineering, or a similar degree. You have some experience in artificial intelligence; both generative AI and machine learning. The duration of the master project or internship is between 6 and 12 months.

What you'll get in return

You want an internship opportunity on the precursor of your career; an internship gives you an opportunity to take a good look at your prospective future employer. TNO goes a step further. It’s not just looking that interests us; you and your knowledge are essential to our innovation. That’s why we attach a great deal of value to your personal and professional development. You will, of course, be properly supervised during your work placement and be given the scope for you to get the best out of yourself. Furthermore, we provide:

• A highly professional, innovative internship environment, within a team of top experts.
• A suitable internship allowance (615 euro for wo-, hbo- and mbo-students, for a full-time internship).
• Possibility of eight hours of free leave per internship month (for a full-time internship).
• A free membership of Jong TNO, where you can meet other TNO professionals and join several activities, such as sports activities, (work-related) courses or the yearly ski-trip.
• Use of a laptop.
• An allowance for travel expenses in case you don’t receive an OV-card.

TNO as an employer

At TNO, we innovate for a healthier, safer and more sustainable life. And for a strong economy. Since 1932, we have been making knowledge and technology available for the common good. We find each other in wonder and ingenuity. We are driven to push boundaries. There is all the space and support for your talent and ambition. You work with people who will challenge you: who inspire you and want to learn from you. Our state-of-the-art facilities are there to realize your vision. What you do at TNO matters: impact makes the difference. Because with every innovation you contribute to tomorrow’s world.

At TNO we encourage an inclusive work environment, where you can be yourself. Whatever your story and whatever unique qualities you bring to the table. It is by combining our unique strengths and perspectives that we are able to develop innovations that make a real difference in society.