Serge Abiteboul, “for the love of computer science”

“While studying for a degree in Engineering at Télécom Paris I had the opportunity to spend my third year abroad. I was keen to travel, and so I jumped at the chance, and ended up studying Computer Science at the University of Haifa.” Listening to Serge Abiteboul - emeritus director of research at the Inria Paris centre and member of Valda, a joint project team involving Inria, the ENS-PSL and the CNRS - talk about his undergraduate years, you would think that computer science came into his life by chance. A quick glance at a list of the positions he has occupied since and the scientific awards he has won* will be enough to tell you that, after finding his feet in this world, Serge Abiteboul has gone on to excel in it. But the man himself would rather not talk about his awards, or the fact that he is a member of the French Academy of Sciences, no doubt feeling these are less important than the results, the passion and the inquisitiveness that have been the hallmarks of a career devoted to digital spanning close to half a century. During this time, in addition to helping to improve tools and methodology through both his research and his teaching, he has also made a significant contribution to the associated scientific, ethical and societal conversations.

After graduating, Serge Abiteboul decided to pursue his studies with a PhD at the University of Southern California, where he first began researching the field of databases that would go on to become his main area of focus. When he came back to France in 1982 he joined the Inria centre in Rocquencourt as a researcher, determined to combine theoretical and applied research - a goal he has remained committed to ever since. “When it came to databases I couldn't decide between the systems and the theory, and so I pursued both, taking inspiration from theory in order to find practical subjects, and vice-versa.” It was during this time, while a member of François Bancilhon and Michel Scholl's team, that Abiteboul first developed an interest in semi-structured databases, which had received little attention prior to then.

In 1995, Serge followed his wife to San Francisco and became a professor in the computer science department at Stanford University. For two years, he taught, conducted research, met people, including the creators of a brand-new search engine called Google, Larry Page and Sergei Brin - the latter of whom he had befriended - and enjoyed California with his children. For all these reasons, he describes this period as ‘totally brilliant’.

When he returned to Inria he shifted his focus to information systems and knowledge bases, and in 2000 he and Sophie Cluet founded Xylème, a solution for the management and analysis of textual content. Xylème proved a success - the newspaper Le Monde opted to use the solution for its archives - and was eventually bought over by a US company and moved to San Diego. “I really enjoyed that experience, but after a few years I found I was missing research.” 

Not only did he miss research, but he also missed teaching, having “always believed that researchers ought to teach”. This is something he has always done, both in France and overseas, having taught at the École Polytechnique in Palaiseau, at Stanford, at Berkeley, at the École Normale Supérieure and at the Collège de France, where for a year he held the chair in Computer Science. In his inaugural lecture, which he dedicated “to female students of computer science, mathematics and science in general, who are so rare at our universities”, Abiteboul expressed his hope that he would be able “to convey the richness and the beauty of computer science, and in doing so to contribute towards the teaching of ‘developing knowledge’”, with an emphasis on gender equality.

He grew even surer of these convictions as the development of digital technology brought with it new challenges, including responsible data management and privacy, both of which Abiteboul feels strongly about. Between 2013 and 2016, as a member of France’s national digital council, he was called upon to explore issues relating to digital inclusion and the neutrality of internet platforms, “hugely important subjects which researchers don't always stop to consider”. This continued in 2018 at the Arcep, where Abiteboul also contributed to discussions surrounding digital sobriety and environmental protection.

Users are infantilised and have become slaves to digital, when they should be its masters.

One important goal is to tackle the injustice of the digital divide in all it forms. While the gap may be narrowing from a regional and a generational perspective, there remains a significant divide at an economic and societal level “between those who have the money to study and purchase equipment and those who don’t. The gap is enormous.” Then there is the issue of the internet no longer fulfilling its original purpose, whether for commercial or political reasons. “On social media platforms there is no way for you to choose how information is arranged or how it is moderated. Users are infantilised and have become slaves to digital, when they should be its masters.” For Abiteboul, the problem also lies in a poor understanding of the technology. “Digital is a wonderful tool for humanity, but as is the case with all technology, people need to understand what they are doing in order to stay on top of the risks and really get the most out of it.” 

Herein lies the importance of understanding and participation, both of which are central to the concept of the digital commons, the most recent subject for Abiteboul to throw his weight behind. Instead of leaving everything up to private companies, he believes responsibility can be given back to developers and users by allowing them to work together on the design and use of the tools they need, as is the case with Wikipedia. “In the 19th century only the well off had encyclopaedias, in 20 volumes for the very wealthiest and in two volumes for those who didn’t have quite so much. The majority didn’t have any. Now you can access a universal encyclopaedia using your phone, which you can also help to edit.” 

This is a critical but exciting time. Citizens, researchers and politicians must fight to ensure that digital continues to serve the common interest.

Clearly, this is an issue that extends beyond the digital sphere into areas such as civic engagement and participatory democracy. “This is a critical but exciting time. Citizens, researchers and politicians must fight to ensure that digital continues to serve the common interest and is not corrupted by states seeking to carry out surveillance on people or companies wanting to maximise their profits.” 

Committed as ever to combining the theoretical and the practical, Abiteboul’s aim is not simply to assess the current state of play but to devise solutions aimed at “getting things moving. But this won't be easy.” On top of his commitments with various different organisations, including the Blaise Pascal Foundation (which he co-founded), Abiteboul also employs all the means he has at his disposal to explain computer science and digital technology to as many people as possible, as clearly as possible.

In 2014, in conjunction with the French Society for Computer Science, he launched the blog Binaire, and has also published essays, novels and short stories. He even recently co-authored a play** alongside Laurence Devillers and Gilles Dowek, Qui a hacké Garoutzia ? (Who Hacked Garoutzia?). As was the case in his short story collection Le bot qui murmurait à l’oreille de la vieille dame (The Bot who Whispered in the Old Lady’s Ear), the play explores the positive side to AI in an attempt to dispel the fears and scare stories which have arisen in response to its development.
 

Serge Abiteboul croit aux vertus de l’éducation autant qu’à la force de l’engagement collectif. Tout porte à croire qu’il continuera encore longtemps de défendre, expliquer et promouvoir les outils numériques auprès du plus grand nombre. Du reste, au moment de prendre sa retraite, il ne quitte pas tout à fait Inria puisqu’il y reste chercheur émérite dans l’équipe-projet commune Valda, à l’École normale supérieure-PSL, et est membre du Conseil d’administration de la Fondation Inria. « Je veux essayer de lever un peu le pied mais je n’y arrive pas beaucoup » confesse-t-il. Une chose est certaine, ses connaissances et ses réflexions, quelle que soit la forme qu’elles prendront, seront précieuses pour alimenter et faire avancer un débat sans fin : celui du vivre ensemble.

* ACM SIGMOD innovation award (1998), the EADS award from the French Academy of Sciences (2007), made an ACM Fellow (2012), the Milner Award from the Royal Society

** directed by Lisa Bretzner, performed at the Avignon Festival in 2023, and set to run from 24 September 2024 to 31 December 2024 at the Les Enfants du Paradis theatre in Paris (9th arrondissement).