Enrico De Santis earned his Master’s degree (cum laude) and Ph.D. in Information and Communication Engineering from the University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy. During his doctoral studies, he worked as a research assistant and subsequently as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Computer Science at the Metropolitan University of Toronto, Canada. He is currently a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Information, Electronics, and Telecommunications Engineering (DIET) at "La Sapienza", where he teaches courses in Pattern Recognition and Computational Intelligence.

His research activity, carried out within the CIPAR LABS and the Artificial Intelligence for Electrical Engineering (AI4EE) research group at DIET, focuses on artificial intelligence, complex systems and data-driven modeling, natural language processing (NLP), computational intelligence, neural networks, and fuzzy systems, with applications to several technical areas such as large language models (LLMs), smart grids, high-power Li-ion battery modeling, and predictive maintenance. In the field of natural language processing, his interests range from theoretical advances in language modeling and meaning representation in relation to complex systems theory to technical applications in text mining. He is also interested in the ontological and epistemological aspects of science, as well as in the connections between cognitive sciences, artificial intelligence, and Explainable AI.

Within the framework of complexity theory, he investigates how linguistic structures can be analyzed through tools such as fractal systems and recurrence analysis, and how meaning emerges from long-term correlations, a distinctive property of complex systems.

Since 2017, he has been involved in the innovative startup SisterPomos at Sapienza University of Rome, and in 2024 he co-founded the innovative startup TensorLoops, where he manages artificial intelligence projects in production environments.

Enrico De Santis is the author of several publications in national and international venues and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He also serves as a member of the IEEE eXplainable AI (XAI) Standard Working Group.

Beyond the strictly technological domain, his research interests extend to the theoretical development of artificial intelligence and Explainable AI in relation to mathematics, language theory, and cognitive sciences, with particular attention to philosophical and epistemological aspects.

In 2021, he published the book Umanità, Complessità, Intelligenza Artificiale. Un connubio perfetto with ARACNE, an interdisciplinary essay exploring the relationship between intelligent systems and complex systems from a human-centered and systemic perspective. In September 2023, he published an article on large language models and language theory in the quarterly magazine Prometeo (Mondadori), titled “Apocalissi digitali e alchimie artificiali: il linguaggio nell’era della sua riproducibilità tecnica”. In December 2025, again in Prometeo, he published the article “Noosemia”, in which he introduces and formalizes a cognitive–phenomenological framework for understanding the attribution of agency and interiority to generative AI systems. In the same year, he contributed the chapter “L’Intelligenza Artificiale e gli strumenti di indagine” to the edited volume Intelligenza Artificiale e Indagini Penali (La Tribuna), curated by Cesare Parodi and Tania Rizzo, addressing the transformation of criminal investigation tools in the context of the data deluge and the contemporary "cognitive revolution".

International Conferences

• (chairing – speaker) 2013 IFSA World Congress NAFIPS Annual Meeting Edmonton, Canada June 24-28, 2013.

• (speaker) 2014 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI 2014), Beijing, China, July 6-11, 2014.

• (speaker) 2014 International Joint Conference on Computational Intelligence (IJCCI 2014), Rome, Italy, 22-24 October, 2014.

• (speaker) 2015 The International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN 2015), Killarney, Ireland, July 12 - 17, 2015.

• (speaker) 2017 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2017 Donostia - San Sebastián, Spain, June 5-8, 2017

• (speaker) 2017 Intermediate Scientific Meeting of the ITALIAN STATISTICAL SOCIETY Florencem STATISTICS AND DATA SCIENCE: NEW CHALLENGES, NEW GENERATIONS, June 28-30, 2017

• (speaker) 2018 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI 2018), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 8-13, 2018.

• (speaker) 2022 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI 2022), Padova, Italy, July 18-23, 2022.

• (chairing – speaker) 2023 International Joint Conference on Computational Intelligence (IEEE IJCNN 2023), Gold Coast, Australia, June 18-23, 2023.

• (chairing) 2024 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI 2024), Tokyo, Japan, June 29 - July 5, 2024.

• (chairing – speaker) 2025 International Joint Conference on Computational Intelligence (IEEE IJCNN 2025), Rome, Italy, June 30 – July 5, 2025; (upcoming).

Main Events and University Third Mission

Roma – Circolo degli Esteri – 08/01/2026 – YouTube link
Conference Title: Intelligenza artificiale e nuovi equilibri della conoscenza

Presentation Title: Il linguaggio nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica

Torino – TFI Torino Film Industry – Circolo dei lettori – 24/11/2025 – YouTube link
Conference Title: Workshop: Apocalissi digitali e alchimie artificiali, Il linguaggio nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica

Gaeta – Pinacoteca Comunale d'Arte Contemporanea "Antonio Sapone" – 07/11/2025 – YouTube link (Complete video) -  YouTube link (summary)
Conference Title: Rapporto tra arte e intelligenza artificiale: beneficio o criticità?
Presentation Title: Apocalissi digitali e alchimie artificiali, Il linguaggio nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica

Gaeta – Club Nautico Gaeta – 11/10/2025 – YouTube link
Conference Title: Intelligenza Artificiale tra informazione ed etica
Presentation Title: Intelligenza Artificiale tra informazione ed etica

Spinaceto – Liceo Classico Plauto – 19/09/2025
Conference Title: STEM in the GAP
Presentation Title: Orientamento Intelligenza Artificiale 

Roma – Sapienza Università di Roma – Facoltà di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale – 15/11/2024
Conference Title: Saperi delle ingegnerie e questioni deontologiche
Presentation Title: IA e epistemologia

Milano – U.I.L., Unione Italiana del Lavoro, UIL CAMP – 14/10/2024
Conference Title: Intelligenza Artificiale e mondo del lavoro. Un dialogo aperto tra tecnologia, etica e diritti dei lavoratori
Presentation Title: Intelligenza Artificiale e Apprendimento Automatico

Formia – University Village – training school – 02/10/2024
Conference Title: Dalla digitalizzazione all’Intelligenza Artificiale
Presentation Title: Intelligenza Artificiale tra etica e lavoro

Vasto (Chieti) – U.I.L., UIL CAMP – 13/09/2024
Conference Title: Transizione Industriale e AI, persone e tecnologia insieme per un futuro migliore
Presentation Title: Impatti dell’IA sul Mondo del Lavoro

Borgo Lanciano – U.I.L., Esecutivo Nazionale – 18/07/2024
Conference Title: Intelligenza Artificiale. Passaggio imprescindibile
Presentation Title: Impatti dell’IA sul Mondo del Lavoro

Fiumicino – Istituto di Istruzione Superiore “Paolo Baffi” – Organized by Confimprese Italia – 08/07/2024
Presentation Title: Intelligenza Artificiale. Una nuova frontiera della conoscenza e del lavoro

Roma – U.I.L., Sede Centrale, Via Lucullo, 6 – 21/05/2024
Conference Title: Intelligenza Artificiale e mondo del lavoro. Un dialogo aperto tra tecnologia, etica e diritti dei lavoratori
Presentation Title: Intelligenza Artificiale tra etica e lavoro

Formia – San Giuseppe Lavoratore – training school – 17/05/2024
Presentation Title: Intelligenza Artificiale tra etica e lavoro

Latina – Sapienza Università di Roma – Faculty of Engineering – 19/04/2024
Conference Title: Convivere con l’incertezza nell’era dell’Intelligenza Artificiale
Presentation Title: Apocalissi digitali e alchime artificiali, Il linguaggio nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica

Formia – Liceo Classico “Cicerone Pollione” – training school – 10/04/2024
Presentation Title: Un nuovo rinascimento: umanesimo e Intelligenza Artificiale nell’educazione

Gaeta – Istituto di Istruzione Superiore “Enrico Fermi” – 28/02/2024
Presentation Title: Dal Liceo all’impresa passando per la ricerca accademica. Un percorso nella rivoluzione dell’Intelligenza Artificiale

Roma – Sapienza Università di Roma – Facoltà di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale – 31/01/2024
Conference Title: L'Intelligenza Artificiale e l'impossibilità di una mente autonoma
Presentation Title: IA: Cosa si Cela tra Possibilità e Impossibilità?

Pontinia (LT) – ICS «Gaetano Manfredini» – 10/01/2024
Conference Title: Intelligenza Artificiale a Scuola: Sfide e Opportunità per il Cambiamento
Presentation Title: Intelligenza Artificiale: passato, presente e prospettive future

Torino – Regione Piemonte – Masterclass “Complessità” – 22/11/2023
Conference Title: Nuove Intelligenze e Nuovi Strumenti
Presentation Title: Nuove intelligenze e nuovi strumenti

Latina – Sapienza Università di Roma – Faculty of Engineering – 24/11/2023
Conference Title: Convivere con l’incertezza nell’era dell’Intelligenza Artificiale
Presentation Title: Apocalissi digitali e alchime artificiali, Il linguaggio nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica

Gaeta – Ufficio Scuola Arcidiocesi di Gaeta, Palazzo De Vio – 16/09/2023
Conference Title: Scuola e Intelligenza Artificiale: l'IA in classe: opportunità e sfide
Presentation Title: L’IA tra etica della tecnologia e tecnologia dell’etica

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