Lizayra Dassen wins the 2025 Gerrit Krol Award

The fourth edition of the Gerrit Krol Award was awarded to Lizayra Dassen for her essay titled Een uitdagende onwetendheid (A challenging ignorance). The jury described her essay as ‘convincing’ and ‘well thought-out’.

The Gerrit Krol Award is a biennial essay competition organized by the Language Centre and the Dutch Language and Culture programme at the University of Groningen. The aim of the prize is to raise the profile of Dutch as an academic language and to provide a platform for young talent. The winner receives a prize of €2,000 and has their essay published on the literary blog Tzum.

AI and culture

The essay competition was themed ‘AI and culture’. AI is capable of many things, but it has its limits. One of the major questions we are currently facing is how AI relates to culture. The writing of poems, novels, songs, speeches, love letters, and the like is something that can easily be left to computers, but what are we supposed to do with the art that robots create for us? How will this AI-generated art influence the role that art plays in our lives? Do we even need AI-generated art? Or does this development signify the end of something that began a long time ago and may have held us in its grip for too long? Those were the questions presented to students as inspiration for their essays.

The winning essay

The winning essay convincingly argues that AI cannot act as an artist. Lizayra states in her essay: ‘Art should be all about a sense of purpose, stirring emotions in others, connection, and amazement. It should spark conversations, move people, and ask questions.’ Art that is generated by AI is always at a disadvantage. It may evoke certain reactions, but these are not responses to human actions, but rather to the synthetic products of a robot.

The author of this essay made it very clear that this is a personal opinion about AI and art. The reader is given space to compare their own views with the ideas expressed in the piece, while also being presented with convincing arguments that can help them decide where they stand. This writing style is characteristic of a good essay, and that is what Een uitdagende onwetendheid is! The complete essay will soon be published on the literary blog Tzum.

Three nominees

Students from all universities in Dutch-speaking regions were invited to submit their essays of up to 2,000 words in Dutch on the theme of AI and culture. Three nominees were selected from all submissions: Jasmijn van Vlimmeren, Lizayra Dassen, and Reinder Haeck. On Tuesday 24 June, Lizayra was announced as the winner during a festive ceremony at the Academy Building of the University of Groningen. She received the prize from Rector Magnificus Jacqueline Scherpen.