Hadi Asghari, Dr.
Hadi Asghari is a associated researcher in the AI & Society Lab. His research focuses on safeguarding public values in AI systems.
Hadi employs a mix of empirical, computational, and design methods to make sense of the digital ecosystem, and subsequently to propose technical and institutional mechanisms to better safeguard values. Example values include privacy, access, freedom, and transparency. Hadi has published on a number of these topics, including a series of studies on the impact of privacy laws worldwide.
Hadi collaborates closely with researchers and experts from various disciplines and backgrounds, including civil society, industry, and government. He is a member of the AI & Society Lab (at HIIG), the Access Request Advocacy & Research Network (at VU Brussels), and the Open Tech Fund advisory council, among others.
Previously, Hadi worked at TU Delft, where he also received his PhD degree on the topic of “Analyzing Security Metrics for Public Policy”. In 2016, he was a visiting researcher at Princeton University’s Center for IT Policy. Prior to his research career, he worked as a software engineer and entrepreneur in Tehran.
AI · Society & culturePublic Interest AI
The “Public Interest AI” research group is developing an operationalisable analysis procedure that will allow Public Interest to be defined in an AI-specific way...
Journal articles and conference proceedings
Hewett, F., Asghari, H., Stede, M. (2024). Elaborative Simplification for German-Language Texts. Proceedings of the 25th Annual Meeting of the Special Interest Group on Discourse and Dialogue, 29-39. Publication details
Züger, T. & Asghari, H. (2024). Introduction to the special issue on AI systems for the public interest. Internet Policy Review, 13(3). DOI: 10.14763/ 2024.3.1802 Publication details
Asghari., H., Hewett, F., & Züger, T. (2023). On the Prevalence of Leichte Sprache on the German Web. ACM WebSci ’23 Conference Proceedings, 147-152. DOI: 10.1145/3578503.3583599 Publication details
Zuiderveen Borgesius, F., Asghari, H., Bangma, N., & Hoepman, J. (2023). The GDPR’s Rules on Data Breaches: Analysing Their Rationales and Effects. SCRIPTed, 20(2), 352-382. DOI: 10.2218/scrip.20.2.2023.8979 Publication details
Asghari, H., Stolberg-Larsen, J., & Züger, T. (2022). Approximating Accessibility of Regions from Incomplete Volunteered Data. CHI EA '22: Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1-6. DOI: 10.1145/3491101.3519706 Publication details
Züger, T., & Asghari, H. (2022). AI for the public. How public interest theory shifts the discourse on AI. AI & Society. DOI: 10.1007/s00146-022-01480-5 Publication details
Asghari, H. & Hewett, F. (2022). HIIG at GermEval 2022: Best of Both Worlds Ensemble for Automatic Text Complexity Assessment. Proceedings of the GermEval 2022 Workshop on Text Complexity Assessment of German Text, 15–20. Publication details
Asghari, H., van Biemen, Thomas, & Warnier, Martijn (2021). Amplifying Privacy: Scaling Up Transparency Research Through Delegated Access Requests. 5th Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection (ConPro ’21). Publication details
Mahieu, R., Asghari, H., Parsons, C., van Hoboken, J., Crete-Nishihata, M., Hilts, A., & Anstis, S. (2021). Measuring the Brussels Effect through Access Requests: Has the European General Data Protection Regulation Influenced the Data Protection Rights of Canadian Citizens? Journal of Information Policy, 11, 301-349. DOI: 10.5325/jinfopoli.11.2021.0301 Publication details
Edited works
Ashgari, H. & Züger, T. (Eds.) (2025). Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Public Interest AI (PI-AI 2024). Würzburg, Germany: CEUR-WS. Publication details
Züger, T. & Asghari, H. (Eds.). (2024). AI systems for the public interest [Special issue]. Internet Policy Review, 13(3). DOI: 10.14763/2024.3.1802 Publication details
Book contributions and chapters
Asghari, H. & Züger, T. (2024). Es gibt keinen Algorithmus gegen Hass – Hate Speech Detection: Über die Chancen und Grenzen der Automatisierung im Kampf gegen Rassismus und Antisemitismus. In M. Adeoso, E. Berendsen, L. Fischer, & D. Schnabel (Eds.), Code & Vorurteil – Über künstliche Intelligenz, Rassismus und Antisemitismus, Edition Bildungsstätte Anne Frank 4 (pp. 49-60). Berlin, Germany: Verbrecher Verlag. Publication details
Other publications
Züger, T., Asghari, H. & Lübbert, B. (2025). Public Interest AI Projects 2024, Dataset. Publication details
Hewett, F. & Asghari, H. (2023). Lowering the barriers: Accessible language and “Leichte Sprache” on the German Web. Digital society blog. Publication details
Borgesius, F. Z., & Asghari, H. (2023). Data breaches: Does the GDPR help? Digital society blog. Publication details
Asghari, H., Birner, N., Burchardt, A., Dicks, D., Fassbender, J., Feldhus, N., Hewett, F., Hofmann, V., Kettemann, M. C., Schulz, W., Simon, J., Stolberg-Larsen, J., & Züger, T. (2022). What to explain when explaining is difficult. An interdisciplinary primer on XAI and meaningful information in automated decision-making. HIIG Impact Publication Series. Publication details
Lectures and presentations
Mechanistic Interpretability of Socio-Political Frames in Language Models: an ExplorationAdvances in Interpretable Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AIMLAI). INRIA. Radisson Blu Vilnius Hotel, Vilnius, Lithuania: 09.09.2024 Further information
Hadi Asghari, Sami Nenno
The Opportunities of AI in Addressing Human Rights RisksUN GCD Annual Conference 2023 (Session: Menschenrechte & Arbeitsnormen). UN Global Compact Netzwerk Deutschland (UCD). Humboldt Carré, Berlin, Germany: 07.11.2023 Further information
Hadi Asghari
AI for the Public InterestBachelor's Course: "Künstliche Intelligenz als Herausforderung der Demokratie". University of Erfurt. University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany: 28.06.2023
Hadi Asghari
On the Prevalence of Leichte Sprache on the German Web15th ACM Web Science Conference 2023. Association of Computing Machinery. 15th ACM Web Science Conference 2023, Evanston, USA: 30.04.2023
Hadi Asghari
Eine Bestandsaufnahme des CO2-Fußabdrucks von AI: Was wissen wir und wie können wir ihn verringern?KI Camp 2023. Gesellschaft für Informatik. Factory Berlin Görlitzer Park, Berlin, Germany: 26.04.2023 Further information
Sami Nenno, Hadi Asghari
AI for Sustainability & Sustainable AICIFE Master programmes in Global Economic Governance & Public Affairs (GEGPA) and EU Trade & Climate Diplomacy (EUDIPLO). Centre International de Formation Européenne (CIFE). Centre International de Formation Européenne (CIFE), Berlin, Germany: 17.03.2023
Asghari, H., Nenno, S.
Problems of Technology for SocietyEthical, Social, and Legal Foundations of Data Science Bachelors Course. University of Göttingen. University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany: 15.02.2023
Hadi Asghari
Poster Pitch: Are AI standardisation processes inclusive enough to deliver tech that works for everyone?European Think Tank Conference 2022. German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). European Think Tank Conference 2022, Berlin, Germany: 20.09.2022 Further information
Hadi Asghari
AI in Society and EconomySeminar. Digital Business University Berlin. Digital Business University Berlin, Berlin, Germany: 18.08.2022
Hadi Asghari
Approximating Accessibility of Regions from Incomplete Volunteered DataCHI EA '22. Association of Computing Machinery. Online, New Orleans, USA: 03.05.2022 Further information
Hadi Asghari
Amplifying Privacy: Scaling Up Transparency Research Through Delegated Access Requests5th Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection (ConPro ’21) (Session: Amplifying Privacy: Scaling Up Transparency Research Through Delegated Access Requests). ConPro ’21. Online, San Francisco, USA: 27.05.2021 Further information
Hadi Asghari
AI in the public interest: What does this mean and how can be build it?Gesellschaft für Informatik: #KICamp21. Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.. Online, Berlin, Germany: 24.02.2021 Further information
Theresa Züger, Hadi Asghari, Freya Hewett, Judith Fassbender, Jakob Stolberg-Larsen
Panels
LLMs and the Patterns of Human Language UseLLMs and the Patterns of Human Language Use. DenkWerkstatt Berlin. Weizenbaum Institut, Berlin, Germany: 30.08.2024 Further information
Hadi Asghari
Moderation of workshops and panels
AI Systems for the Public InterestKI 2023 – 46th German Conference on Artificial Intelligence. Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI). Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, Berlin, Germany: 26.09.2023 Further information
Theresa Züger, Hadi Asghari
Automatisation and autonomyInfrastructures of Autonomy. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Brandenburg Center for Media Studies. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany: 24.11.2022 Further information
Hadi Asghari
Organisation of events
2nd Workshop on ‘Public Interest AI’23.09.2024. Julius-Maximilians Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. Co-Organised by: 47th German Conference on AI (KI 2024) (International) Further information
Hadi Asghari, Theresa Züger
AI-systems for the public interestAoIR 2023: AI-systems for the public interest. 18.10.2023. Sonesta Hotel, Philadelphia, USA (International) Further information
Hadi Asghari, Freya Hewett, Judith Faßbender, Theresa Züger
Lunch Talk | The theory of artificial immutability: protecting algorithmic groups under anti-discrimination lawwith attending Vip: Sandra Wachter. 27.06.2023. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany (International) Further information
Daniel Pothmann, Sarah Spitz, Hadi Asghari
Hackathon. Entwicklung von KI-ErklärungsmodellenFrom 03.02.2023 to 03.02.2023. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany. Co-Organised by: neuland & gestalten (National) Further information
Daniel Pothmann, Sarah Spitz, Hadi Asghari, Sami Nenno, Freya Hewett, Judith Faßbender, Theresa Züger
AI and the Public Interest13.06.2022. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany (International) Further information
Hadi Asghari, Sami Nenno, Freya Hewett, Judith Faßbender, Theresa Züger
Nominations
Think Tank School of the German Council on Foreign Relations.Hadi Asghari, Theresa Züger
Participation as expert
'The right of access of personal data in the EU. A Legal and empirical analysis' Public PhD defense of René Mahieu Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Law, Science, Technology & Society Research Group. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Law, Science, Technology & Society Research Group, Brussels, Belgium: 24.04.2023 Further informationHadi Asghari
12. Indo-German Frontiers of Engineering Symposium (INDOGFOE) Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bremen, Germany: 29.09.2022 Further informationHadi Asghari
Position
Associated Researcher: AI & Society Lab
Contact
Topics: AI, Public Interest AI, AI & Data Protection