Christian Hugo Hoffmann

Hoffmann completed his doctoral studies at the University of St. Gallen under the supervision of Markus Schwaninger and at Yale University under Andrew Metrick, focusing on finance. His research explored the expansion of instruments in quantitative risk management in the context of dynamically complex financial systems. Afterward, he served as the head of finance at Verity Studios, a robotics startup in Zurich, and co-founded two software companies in Germany and Switzerland. These companies developed risk management software products for banks based on his research findings and incorporating artificial intelligence (AI).

Simultaneously, while working on his second startup, he pursued a postdoctoral position at the Risk Center of ETH Zurich under Didier Sornette. Until mid-2021, he held the position of Deputy Director and Head of AI at the Swiss Fintech Innovation Lab at the University of Zurich.

Hoffmann remained active as an entrepreneur and played a role in establishing and leading the startup and entrepreneurship network Startup Grind in Geneva. He also worked as the CFO of a cleantech startup in Lausanne. Drawing from his experiences as a tech entrepreneur, he wrote a book on the concept of intelligence and the role of intelligence in AI systems. He submitted this book as his dissertation at the Department of Philosophy at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), under the supervision of technology philosopher and physicist Armin Grunwald.

Currently, Hoffmann is primarily an entrepreneur, involved in startups related to information technology, social media, and life sciences. He is also a published author and speaker. In addition to his involvement with the Liberal Institute, a Swiss think tank based in Zurich, he works as a partner, lecturer, and consultant for Philosophie + Management GmbH in Lucerne, alongside Martin Brasser and Hartmut Westermann.

Hoffmann's areas of expertise and interest lie in the theory of technology assessment, ethics of technology, conceptions of intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI), and the analysis of the changing concepts of human nature and self-understanding in the age of digitization. Some of his main theses and questions are as follows:

• In contrast to the "dumb machines" of the past, many present-day AI systems possess a certain level of intelligence if they exhibit sufficient autonomy and predictive ability.

• We should not be alarmed by predictions that machines and AI systems will take over our jobs in the not-too-distant future, as job profiles constantly change and the advent of AI will also create entirely new professions.

• Animals such as crows and primates, which appear to have a causal understanding of events, as well as new types of AI systems ranging from social robots to cognitive assistants, raise the demand for new answers in order to meaningfully compare different forms of intelligence – intelligence in humans, other animals, and machines. What is the common denominator of intelligence between Einstein, a field mouse, a whale, an octopus, and Google's AlphaZero? It is causal learning to varying degrees.

• Entrepreneurs are the incarnation (genesis) of human intelligence. The evolutionary process, from recognizing simple causes and effects to using tools in caves to ignite fire, and eventually developing complex technologies (as modern-day tech entrepreneurs do), has led to increased intelligence by enabling causal thinking that is detached from space and time.

Research focuses:

• Technology Ethics (Autonomous Technical Systems; Artificial Intelligence)
• Business Ethics
• Philosophy of Science (Systems Theory)
• Risk Management

Expirience:

• Feb 2023 - : Research Associate at the Institute for Social Ethics in the Ethics Center of the University of Zurich.
• 2021 - : Submission of the dissertation on Intelligence in Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
• 2019-2020: Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Liechtenstein.
• 2018-2019: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair of Entrepreneurial Risks at ETH Zurich.
• 2017: Submission of the dissertation on Risk Management in Banking and Complex Financial Systems at the School of Business and Economics of the University of St. Gallen (HSG).
• 2013-2017: Doctoral Fellowship at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
• 2007-2013: Studies (BA, MA) in Business/Economics and Philosophy in Mannheim, Konstanz, Paris, and at the London School of Economics.