Not Every Light Chip Becomes a Breakthrough
Martijn Heck on why photonics will shape the future of chips—but not replace electronics anytime soon
In a sector driven by bold claims around AI and next-generation chips, Professor Martijn Heck offers a more grounded perspective: photonics matters — but without scale, reliability and clear demand, it remains a niche within an increasingly complex semiconductor landscape.
Before discussing chips, Martijn Heck raised a different concern: the growing difficulty of trusting what we see and read in technology discourse. AI-generated images, unchecked claims and recycled narratives are eroding credibility—even within scientific communities.
That skepticism carries into his view of the semiconductor industry. Where many see disruption and breakthrough, Heck sees a field shaped by constraints: manufacturing limits, reliability requirements and market demand.
Photonics, in that sense, is not a revolution waiting to replace electronics—but a technology finding its place within a broader system.
Read More“The future of chips is not purely electronic and not purely photonic, but hybrid.”
Martijn Heck, Professor of Photonic Integration, Eindhoven University of Technology
The End of the Black Box in Banking
How the AI Act is forcing financial institutions to explain, justify and govern algorithmic decision-making
Imagine applying for a mortgage and being rejected—not because your income is insufficient, but because a neural network somewhere in a data centre has detected a correlation no human can fully explain. For years, financial institutions have been able to rely on the growing complexity of their models as both a competitive advantage and, at times, a shield.
Artificial intelligence has become deeply embedded in the financial system. Banks use machine learning to assess creditworthiness, detect fraud, monitor transactions and optimise risk models. These systems operate at a scale and speed no human institution could match, processing vast amounts of data to produce decisions that shape economic opportunity.
Yet this efficiency comes at a cost. Many of these systems function as black boxes—highly complex models whose internal logic is difficult, if not impossible, to interpret. When such systems determine who gets access to credit or whose account is flagged as suspicious, opacity becomes more than a technical issue. It becomes a question of accountability.
“Artificial intelligence is already changing the way banks interact with customers and manage risks. But trust is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. The AI Act ensures that when a machine makes a life-changing decision, there is a human and a law to hold it accountable.”.
Margrethe Vestager
Executive Vice-President, European Commission
Speech on the AI Act framework
Vestager’s observation captures the central transformation now facing the financial sector. With the introduction of the Artificial Intelligence Act, banks are no longer judged solely on the performance of their models, but on their ability to explain, justify and govern them.
Read MoreFrom Digital Skills to Algorithmic Literacy
Understanding the systems that shape knowledge, perception and participation in the age of AI
For more than two decades, digital literacy has been framed as a practical skill. Citizens were taught how to use software, navigate the internet, evaluate sources and protect themselves online. These competencies were essential in a world where technology functioned primarily as a tool — something external, something to be operated. But that world is disappearing.
In the age of artificial intelligence, technology no longer simply mediates access to information. It actively shapes it. Algorithms determine what we see, what we read and increasingly what we believe. The interface has become less visible, while the system behind it has become more powerful.
The result is a subtle but profound shift: we are no longer just users of digital tools — we are participants in environments structured by systems we rarely understand.
“We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.”
Marshall McLuhan, media theorist
This observation, often cited in the context of mass media, has taken on new meaning in the algorithmic age. Today, it is not only tools that shape us, but the invisible logic embedded within them. The question is no longer whether information is true or false, but how it became visible in the first place.
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