Welcome

My name is Arjan van Dalfsen. Currently, I am a PhD candidate at Utrecht University. I look somewhat like this:

My research focuses on applying state-of-the-art AI technology to study historical Dutch attitudes towards animals. By exploring old texts with new techniques, I aim to sharpen our understanding of how these perceptions have evolved over time and how they inform our present. You can read more about it in this interview (Dutch version here).

As a result of both my job and a curious nature, I often experiment with new generative AI models for creative projects. This website itself is an example of it, and so is the “drawing” above (it was made with Recraft on February 6, 2025).

Here’s what you can find on my website:

Blog: Currently empty, but I plan to post reflections on my research and generative AI in general.
Publications: A list of my academic writings and publications.
Contact: This page contains a link to my employer’s contact page where you can find all the information you need to reach out to me.
AI of echt? A quiz where you have to indicate whether a text is AI-generated or not. The average score is ~6/10. (Quiz is in Dutch)
Tour de France: I trained a model to predict cycling races. The predictions for Tour de France I share on this web site.

Feel free to explore my site to learn more about my research, read my blog, or get in touch with me.