Merlijn Sebrechts

Merlijn Sebrechts

Senior researcher at imec and teaching at Ghent University. Ubuntu Community Council member. I lead a number of research tracks focused on cybersecurity and trust for software & AI.

Protecting data and software from physical and digital attacks
Trustworthy & robust distributed systems
AI supply chain insight & trust

Speaking & consulting

It's my job as an advisor to say no

Over the past few months, I’ve had multiple conversations with PhD students around a similar topic: the fact that a significant part of my coaching involves critiquing their work and suggesting alternatives.

Llama's Legal Labyrinth

Meta just introduced the Llama 3.1 AI model and accompanied the launch with a blog post explaining “Open Source AI is the path forward” [a]. But buyer beware: Llama 3.1 itself is a legal labyrinth.

What is the Apache 2.0 LLVM Exception?

Some open source projects use the Apache 2.0 license “with LLVM Exception” SPDX: "Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception"). So what is the “LLVM exception” exactly, and why do some projects add it to their license?

A year in the Ubuntu Community Council

Let me tell you a secret. When I was elected to the Ubuntu Community Council in the fall of 2022, I had no idea what to expect. I was excited to start working, but I had no idea what I would be working on.

Dell EcoLoop Pro vs Premier backpack

I bought the Dell EcoLoop Pro, so you don’t have to. Dell EcoLoop Pro At the beginning of this year, I bought the Dell EcoLoop Pro Slim and regretted it immediately. The advertising for it is borderline deceptive, in my opinion.

Our students can use AI for their master's thesis - the policy

During my day job, I teach a number of computer science courses in the Information Engineering Technology programme at Ghent University. The release of ChatGPT and GPT-4 has a large impact on our education because it can get grades of above 80% on most exams and can effortlessly write essays on complex subjects. Students are aware of this, and are thus increasingly using Large Language Models (LLMs) in their education for a number of tasks.

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