AI & Intimacy - 31st DSR Meetup

Hello AI & Data Science enthusiasts! 👋

We're excited to invite you to AI & Intimacy — a joint meetup hosted by Breeze x Data Science Rotterdam.

How do we build AI products for the real world without falling into patterns that potentially harm or exploit our users? Dating apps are a perfect case study: they promise connection, but their incentives don't always point that way — engagement metrics, retention, and matching algorithms can quietly work against the very outcome users want. As AI takes a bigger role in how we meet people, the stakes get higher: whose interests does the algorithm actually serve, and what biases does it bake in along the way? We're bringing together industry and academia to ask how AI-powered platforms can genuinely help people connect — and what it takes to build them responsibly.

Where: 42 Workspace, Rotterdam
When: Wednesday, 30 September 2026

Agenda

• 17:30 – 18:00: Welcome & intros
• 18:00 – 18:30: Talk 1 — Thomas Crul (Breeze)
• 18:30 – 19:00: Talk 2 — [Speaker TBC] Research review on algorithmic bias and discrimination
• 19:00 onwards: Networking & drinks

Talk 1: Thomas Crul (Breeze) — How an AI-powered dating platform can avoid biases and misaligned incentives
A look from inside the machine: what it actually takes to build matching that serves users rather than engagement dashboards, and where the trade-offs really bite.
Talk 2; [Speaker TBD] Research based view on algorithmic bias and discrimination
Where bias creeps into recommender and ranking systems, why it's so stubborn, and what the research says about spotting and mitigating it.
What you'll leave with: a clearer view of how AI shapes modern dating and connection, where bias and misaligned incentives creep in, and what "responsible" design looks like when the product is human intimacy.
We look forward to seeing you there! 🚀
A big thank you to 42 Workspace for hosting us — go check out their space if you haven't yet.

If you have colleagues or friends who are ai-mazing enthusiasts of data science, AI, or analytics — feel free to invite them along.

Photography & Media Consent
By registering for this event, you acknowledge and agree that photographs and/or video may be taken during the event [confirm recording is happening before finalizing this line]. These may include images in which you appear and may be used for promotional, marketing, or documentation purposes by the event organizers, including publication on websites, social media, and other communication channels. If you do not wish to be photographed or recorded, please inform the event staff upon arrival.