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Max Mueller Bhavan | India

Articles Media and Digital Culture

Whether it is being used for searches or automated content moderation: Artificial intelligence is only as useful as its underlying datasets. Photo (detail): © Adobe

Bias and Error
 When AI is biased

Over the past decade, we have come to spend much of our lives in the digital sphere – a sphere that is increasingly controlled by just a handful of corporations. These companies, unavoidable for most, exert a considerable amount of control over what we can see and say, as well as the types of tools available to us.
Lalo (Lamin Leroy Gibba) and Joshua (Daniel Hernandez) looking at each other © ARD Degeto/Jünglinge Film/Studio Zentral/Maïscha Souaga

ARD Series “Schwarze Früchte”
 Lalo and the Art of Getting Lost

Lalo wants to be an artist, but mostly he stumbles through life – insecure, self-absorbed and never quite in control. “Schwarze Früchte” turns this messiness into sharp television: a story of queer identity, family ghosts and the awkward art of growing up, told with style, wit and a cast that embodies diversity.
Which information is true, which is artificially generated? Spotting the difference is becoming ever more difficult as AI-augmented fake news and disinformation are spreading. Photo (detail): © Adobe

Artificial Intelligence and Elections
It’s About Saving Democracy

Bogus audios imitating politicians’ voices, AI-augmented robo-calling or fictional TV anchors: artificial intelligence offers a magnitude of new ways to spread disinformation. In an era of global crises, it represents a genuine threat to democracy.
 
An illustration symbolising a Greek bust and pantheon. Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

AI in the Higher Education sector
When AI threatens knowledge

AI is Reshaping Knowledge: from how it changes students’ engagement and deep reading skills, to how Universities are accelerating the shift in favor of efficiency, there are deep implications on what place critical thinking and skepticism have in the creation of knowledge.
An illustration showing a microphone held in one hand. Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

AI in newsrooms
Between a tool and a turning point

AI transcribes interviews, filters comments, improves phrasing – and in doing so, is quietly but fundamentally changing newsroom life. But to what extent? Gregor Schmalzried, journalist and host of Bayerischer Rundfunk’s AI Podcast, offers a behind-the-scenes look.
An illustration of a robot. Inside the robot is a human. Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

AI and emotions
 Artificial empathy

What happens to us and our psyche when we share our most intimate thoughts and feelings with AI companions? How is our understanding of relationships changing, and what impact is this having on society as a whole? In the following article, author Johannes Kuhn takes a closer look at these pressing questions.
An illustration of a boy in Studio Ghibli style. The figure disintegrates halfway into individual pixels. Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

AI and Art
 Studio Ghibli style and the draining of meaning

What remains of art when AI imitates everything? An essay on Ghibli filters and the quiet erosion of cultural meaning in the age of generative machines.
Hauptmotiv der Amazon Prime Serie Die Therapie © Amazon Prime

German Series in India
 Sebastian Fitzek's "Therapy"

With no witnesses, no traces, and no corpse, Josy, the 13-year-old daughter of well-known psychiatrist Viktor Larenz, has disappeared in unexplained circumstances. Two years later, a mysterious woman appears. She forces Viktor to face up to his daughter's disappearance and pushes him to his psychological limits.
Which information is true, which is artificially generated? Spotting the difference is becoming ever more difficult as AI-augmented fake news and disinformation are spreading. Photo (detail): © Adobe

Artificial Intelligence and Elections
It’s About Saving Democracy

Bogus audios imitating politicians’ voices, AI-augmented robo-calling or fictional TV anchors: artificial intelligence offers a magnitude of new ways to spread disinformation. In an era of global crises, it represents a genuine threat to democracy.
 
The algorithms in facial recognition are anything but unbiased. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/Zoonar/Axel Bueckert

Democracy in the Digital Space
 “Be Careful What You Build”

Human rights lawyer and author Maureen Webb explains how “technical fixes” can exacerbate bias and discrimination, and how hackers are fighting to protect our democratic rights in the digital space.
 
Artificial intelligence is by no means as fair or neutral as it may seem. Photo (detail): © Adobe

Artificial Intelligence
 Awful AI

In our modern world, nothing can escape the digital revolution. The way we commute, communicate and consume is controlled by code, and that code is growing increasingly intelligent. But artificial intelligence is by no means as fair or neutral as it may seem.
 
3D computer graphic, round cute robot rolling over a piano keyboard against black background © Gann | McPHOTO/M. Gann/picture alliance (detail)

Musicians and Machines
 How Machine Learning can create new Ways of making new Sounds

How can artists use AI and machine learning to their advantage? An interview with Jesse Engel, Research Scientist at Google Brain’s Magenta Project.
Two girls with laptop and mobile phone; the photo is superimposed on a graphic in which various pictograms are connected by lines like a network. Photo (detail): Vasin leenanuruksa; © Alamy Stock Photos / mauritius images

Young Generation
 Reimagine AI

What purpose should artificial intelligence have and who should it serve? Young adults develop their vision for a future with artificial intelligence – a short film and selected statements.
A white robotic hand next to a button with speech bubbles on it and the German and UK flag next to it. Photo (detail): Alexander Limbach © picture alliance / Zoonar

AI Stereotypes
 De-biasing Translation Tools

Many people routinely use machine translation services like Google Translate to translate text into another language. But these tools also often reflect social bias.
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