Marc Steen

The focus of Marc’s research is on Responsible Innovation, Human-Centred Design, Value-Sensitive Design, Applied Ethics, and Ethical, Legal and Societal Aspects (ELSA) of data, algorithms, and AI, often in the domain of justice, safety, and security.

His mission is to promote the design and application of digital technologies in ways that help to create a just society in which people can live well together. Often, in his research and innovation projects, he draws from the tradition of virtue ethics.

Marc Steen earned MSc, EngD and PhD degrees in Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology, and an LLM degree in Constitutional Law and Jurisprudence at the Open Universiteit. He writes for academic, professional, and popular publications.

Selected professional and popular publications:

• Marc Steen: Ethics for people who work in tech, Routledge/CRC Press, 2023.
• Marc Steen: The problem with the Trolley Problem and the need for Systems Thinking, Communications of the ACM (67/6) 2024.
• Marc Steen: Ethics as a participatory and iterative process, Communications of the ACM (66/5) 2023, 27-29.
• Marc Steen: Learning From Indigenous Cultures, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine (41/4) 2022), 39-43.
• Marc Steen: Ethische aspecten bij het ontwikkelen en toepassen van AI: Een methode voor reflectie en deliberatie, Justitiële Verkenningen (50/1) 2024, 109-126.
• Marc Steen: Zo pas je ethiek praktisch toe, AG Connect (3) 2023, 14-17;
• Marc Steen: Relatie-ethiek en deugdethiek voor AI, AG Connect (5) 2023, 42-45;
• Marc Steen: Vier ethische perspectieven op ChatGPT, AG Connect (7), 2023, 42-45;
• Marc Steen: De kracht van systeemdenken in IT, AG Connect (8), 2023, 78-81.
• Marc Steen: Hoe ontwikkel je een ethisch kompas?, iBestuur, 17 April 2023.

Selected peer-reviewed, academic publications:

• Marc Steen, Tjerk Timan, Jurriaan Van Diggelen, Steven Vethman: We need better images of AI and better conversations about AI(opens in a new window or tab) (refers to a different website), AI & Society (40) 2025, 3615–3626.
• Marc Steen, Joachim de Greeff, Maaike de Boer, Cor Veenman: Ethical aspects of ChatGPT: An approach to discuss and evaluate key requirements from different ethical perspectives(opens in a new window or tab) (refers to a different website), AI and Ethics (5) 2025, 2419–2432.
• Marc Steen, Heleen Huijgen, Koen Hogenelst: A framework to integrate ethical, legal, and societal aspects (ELSA) in the development and deployment of human performance enhancement (HPE) technologies and applications in military contexts(opens in a new window or tab) (refers to a different website), Journal of Military Ethics (23/3-4) 2024, 219-244.
• Marc Steen, Jurriaan van Diggelen, Tjerk Timan & Nanda van der Stap: Meaningful human control of drones: exploring human-machine teaming, informed by four different ethical perspectives, AI and Ethics (3/1) 2023, 281–293.
• Marc Steen, Martijn Neef & Tamar Schaap: A Method for Rapid Ethical Deliberation in Research and Innovation Projects, International Journal of Technoethics (12/2) 2021, 72-85.
• Marc Steen, Tjerk Timan & Ibo van de Poel: Responsible Innovation, Anticipation and Responsiveness: Case studies of Algorithms in Decision Support in Justice and Security, and an Exploration of Potential, Unintended, Undesirable, Higher-order Effects, AI and Ethics (1/4) 2021, 501-515.
• Marc Steen: Slow Innovation: The need for reflexivity in Responsible Innovation, Journal of Responsible Innovation (8/2) 2021, 254-260.
• Marc Steen, Martin Sand & Ibo Van de Poel: Virtue Ethics for Responsible Innovation, Business and Professional Ethics Journal (40/2) 2021, 243-268.
• Marc Steen & Joram Nauta: Advantages and disadvantages of societal engagement: a case study in a research and technology organization, Journal of Responsible Innovation (7/3) 2020, 598-619.
• Marc Steen: Organizing Design-for-Wellbeing projects: Using the Capability Approach, Design Issues (32/4) 2016, 4-15.
• Marc Steen: Upon opening the black box and finding it full: Exploring the ethics in design practices, Science, Technology, and Human Values (40/3) 2015, 389-420.
• Marc Steen: Virtues in participatory design: Cooperation, curiosity, creativity, empowerment and reflexivity, Science and Engineering Ethics (19/3) 2013, 945-962.
• Marc Steen: Co-design as a process of joint inquiry and imagination, Design Issues (29/2) 2013, 16-28.
• Marc Steen: Human-centred design as a fragile encounter, Design Issues (28/1) 2012, 72-80.
• Marc Steen: Tensions in human-centred design, CoDesigsn (7/1) 2011, 45-60.