Governing AI: Political players between vision and regulation
Not only tech giants in Silicon Valley influence the development of artificial intelligence (AI): supranational political institutions, states and parties are also active leaders and regulators. They set legal standards, formulate strategies for the future, explore potentials and dangers, promote and sanction or even adopt controversial positions. How do political actors position themselves in the AI debate between economic interest,...
Exploring the digital society
To understand current social and technological change, we need explanations that help shape our future. Within the framework of the lecture series “Making Sense of the Digital Society“, visionary experts share their perspective on the digital society of our time. They address fundamental questions: What could a European perspective on the current transformation process look like? What is the meaning of power and how is it...
Work in the digital age
The future of work is now. We are already working alongside machines that seem to have learnt to think, even feel. Some of us have jobs that our grandparents would have considered recreational activities. And some don’t even stop working anymore. But what does the age of AI and automation hold ready for us? How many of us will still be working? And what does digital labour mean for workers in the Global South? What does it mean for...
GDPR – what’s beyond?
New rights for consumers, new obligations for businesses: European data protection law will receive a massive update, as the EU’s general data protection regulation will enter into force on 25 May 2018. This makes it easier for users to find out what Facebook, Google & Co. store. Will GDPR really make data traffic more transparent? Or nothing new after all? In this context, our researchers also shed light on other topics such as...
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Digital Innovation: Smart glasses for better customer service
Digitalisation brings new opportunities and growth potential, especially for the German Mittelstand. What kind of activities and strategies are pursued when it comes to digital innovation by mid-sized companies? What...
Harnessing artificial intelligence the African way
While all eyes are on Western industrial nations, Nigerian human rights lawyer Olumide Babalola is concerned about AI regulation in Africa. He fears that some countries will adopt the repressive...
Energizing the energy future
What if the entire progress of society depends on the future energy system? At least that’s how visionaries like Jeremy Rifkin argue. The list of challenges posed by the energy...
Global AI race: States aiming for the top
There hardly exists a buzzword today that fires everybody‘s imagination in the tech world like “artificial intelligence” (AI). But not only giants like Google, Facebook, Baidu or Alibaba are trying...
Digital Innovation: Intelligent waste disposal through a smartphone app
Digitalisation brings new opportunities and growth potential, especially for the German Mittelstand. What kind of activities and strategies are pursued when it comes to digital innovation by mid-sized companies? What...
Big Data and nudging: Marketing or manipulation?
Think back to your last purchase at the supermarket. Were the branded products on the shelf placed at eye level? Did you have to bend down for the cheaper products?...
Amidst Insta stories and science events
Nadine Lahn has applied for an internship in the field of science communication. With her article on filter bubbles in the student magazine Karlsruher Transfer, she quickly convinced us. After...
“Cleanliness is next to godliness”
Recruited from the street, content moderators sit in front of screens for hours, filtering violence and hatred from our timelines. They are exploited, mostly left alone with the psychological consequences...
The politics behind the Smart City
Modern cities depend largely on invisible infrastructures. The much-hyped ‘Smart Cities’ promise to digitise the urban – but what happens when they fail? How do we make sure that cities...
The price of connection
Shifts in our communication infrastructures have reshaped the very possibilities of social order driven by markets and commercial exploitation. Some people even regard this as a new form of capitalism....
Addiction: Apt metaphor for (over)use of digital technology?
People are increasingly being warned about the dangers to one’s physical and emotional well-being of always being online. In this post, Sally Wyatt reflects critically on the metaphors of ‘use’...
“This might interest you” – How the Filter Bubble determines our perception
The Filter Bubble – that is one of the most discussed phenomena of the internet. It is suspected of restricting our perception of the Internet through filters. Everyone is talking...
Scientific policy advice – Mediator between two systems
Scientific policy advice is also becoming increasingly important in Germany. What is important here? Rebecca Winkels talked to Christian Kobsda, associate researcher at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet...
Could fake news annul the Brazilian elections?
Fake News affecting polls – a possibility feared for the Brazilian Presidential Elections this year. As Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux has claimed the election results could even be annulled. But how...
What is surveillance capitalism?
Big Brother is watching you. And not only that – new methods of evaluating and manipulating behavior are starting to threaten our freedom. In her new book “The Age of...
Is political micro-targeting hijacking European democracy?
One of the phenomena that Tom Dobber and Natali Helberger have put under the magnifying glass is political micro-targeting, a technique employed by politicians to address individual voters with tailor-made...
Digital identities: a chance for democracy?
What happens when the entity that issued your identification documents no longer exists? Are encrypted identities the solution to this and could they be a prerequisite for technologically enabled forms...
Is the future of mobility upon us?
Silicon Valley is notoriously known for its heavy traffic, affecting every Bay Area resident on a daily basis. No wonder that Silicon Valley has become a test-bed for futuristic mobility...
Proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market: a missed opportunity?
Do news aggregators impact traffic generation towards online news sites? Will platforms like Instagram and TripAdvisor automatically filter user content? Is an EU news publishers’ right really a good idea? ...
Click Cliques: User Types in Online Learning
It should have been an educational game changer. The world’s top universities were offering courses online, free to anyone with an Internet connection. Enthusiasm was high, as was enrollment. But...
We want to e-participate
The latest form of the diverse concept of political participation is “e-participation”. This includes activities by citizens who use information and communication technologies to try to influence political processes. What...