Media and Technology

German Series in the USA
Binge Fever!

Television “Made in Germany” is having a golden moment with the rise of international streaming services. In this dossier, we highlight binge-worthy German serials and fill you in on where to watch them in the USA.

AI and Law
What should a robot be allowed to do?

Artificial intelligence makes our lives easier in many ways. But who is responsible when algorithms and robots make mistakes?

Understanding Neural Machine Translation
How Artificial Intelligence “Works” in Literary Translation

When Google Translate was first launched in 2006, it could only translate two languages. By 2016, it was supporting over 103 languages and translating over 100 billion words a day. Now, not only does it translate, but it can also transcribe eight of the most widely spoken languages in real time. Machines are learning, and they are learning fast.

The Quality of Machine Translation
Post-Human Literary Translation? A Kafka(esque) Example

We underestimate at our peril how quickly computers are progressing, so now is a good juncture to survey the scene! Just how good are computers at literary translation at the moment? Today’s leading MT systems were tasked with producing an English version of one of the most famous sentences in the German language: the opening of Kafka’s story “Die Verwandlung”!

Digital Translation Tools
Can Artificial Intelligence Help Literary Translators?

How is literary translation different from other forms of translation? To oversimplify a little, non-literary translation such as commercial, legal, medical etc. tends to focus on the meaning of a text, while literary translation focuses almost equally strongly on the "style" of the text.

Machine Learning
Who wrote this, you or DeepL?

A Goethe-Institut research project develops a self-learning computer program that does more than to detect fake submissions. “Goethe aktuell” spoke to scientist and researchers Prof. Dr. Niels Pinkwart and Leo Sylvio Rüdian who explains how the program supports teachers in their daily work tutoring German online courses.

“Hack Your Culture”
Show Me Your Collection

(17 November 2020)
For “Hack Your Culture” by the Goethe-Institut, three representatives of cultural institutions in Brazil, Indonesia and Kenya met to discuss digital challenges.

AI music’s appearance of originality

As AI scientists try to test the technology’s creative limits, the world of music is being issued with a challenge. Goetz Richter, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music, gives his view on music, artificial intelligence and consciousness.

Artificial intelligence
Algorithms are like recipes

But the ingredients have to be carefully selected to ensure that a dish tastes good: Algorithm expert Sebastian Schelter talks about artificial intelligence, how it takes decisions off our hands, and how this impacts our lives.

On the Web with Rahel
Digitally Democratic

Protesting – while keeping your distance? Rahel Klein shows us how people get involved online – and campaign for digital democracy: On the internet she meets activists who advocate for transparent authorities and safe escape routes.

Digitalisation
Digitally Sidelined

Signing petitions, booking a visit to the local swimming pool, home schooling – all kinds of everyday things work digitally today. Those who have no access to the internet or who have only limited digital skills could be marginalized in our society.

Podcasts
The Allure of the Auditory Experience

One in every four Germans listens to podcasts, and in the United States it is one in every two people. What makes the audio programs so popular and who is involved in the German-speaking podcast scene?

Algorithmic Governance
Total surveillance

Algorithms that reward or penalise the citizens of a country on the basis of collated data – in places like China and India, “algorithmic governance” has long been a reality. But even in Germany, computer software already takes decisions that have consequences for many people’s lives.

Makerspaces in libraries
Learning by discovering

In 2013, libraries in Germany started running makerspaces for creative projects. Has the concept stood the test of time?

Posthumanism
At the Threshold of a New Era

What ethical, social and political questions arise when automation and artificial intelligence revolutionize the world of work? In the dossier on Posthumanism the Goethe-Institut Canada takes a critical look at these issues.

Frankly … posthuman
How robots manipulate us

Have you read the terms and conditions? No? In our “Frankly … posthuman” column, Liwen Qin reveals how our behaviour adapts to that of a machine.

Frankly ... Posthuman
Of Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Post-humanism

Our author Eliphas Nyamogo remarks that nowadays a visit to a hotel can be eerie – what with deserted lobbies, electronic self-check-in terminals and brief encounters at the door.

“Couch Lessons”
“What are machines allowed to do independently?”

The “Couch Lessons” highlight the opportunities and risks of algorithmic decision-making systems. In a new episode, the disarmament expert Angela Kane and the political scientist P. W. Singer discussed the topic of “AI + Peace.”

The Big Pond
A Transatlantic Listening Series

From pretzels and beer to the Berlin Wall, from motorcycles to recycling, these 50 radio features explore the relationship between Germany and the US on all levels.

Algorithms
We build them; they shape us

Technical advances promise a great deal then often deliver something completely different. Such was the case of the washing machine at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it may be the case with artificial intelligence today.

Frankly ... Posthuman
Deepfakes Technology and Our Identity Crisis

Anyone who places pictures of themselves on the Internet can easily become the target of deepfakes. Computers are already able to use faces from photos for fake news or fake porn videos. Liwen Qin worries about the new possibilities of technology.

Frankly ... Posthuman
How technology helps us in times of crisis

As interpersonal human contact has become a health risk, Liwen Qin outlines how advances in digitalization and information technology can help us cope with the global COVID-19 pandemic.

European Elections
Seven websites and apps promoting digital civic courage

Hate speech and fake news can massively influence public opinion. These apps and initiatives set out to counter that by strengthening political awareness and encouraging positive online discourse. 

Coding da Vinci
The digitalisation of culture

Visitors to museums and archives usually interact with exhibits locked in display cases in darkened rooms. Yet modern technology has given us ways to more directly experience art and cultural artefacts. Coding da Vinci is an open, cultural data hackathon that digitally brings museum pieces to life.  

Foreign language learning in the future
Will everything be digital?

How will we be learning foreign languages in 50 or 100 years’ time? What role will be played by digital media in the foreign language lessons of the future? And is it in fact possible to give meaningful answers to these questions today?
 

Media Theory
What is Information?

What does a squeezed marshmallow have to do with information? How does something new come into the world and what happens to it? Media theorist Andreas Ströhl explores the difference that makes a difference.

“These bodies are filled with fear”
Interview with Klaus Theweleit about violence in Germany

In recent weeks, Germany has been disturbed by images of men chasing people they perceived to be refugees through the streets of a German town. We asked Professor Klaus Theweleit, an expert on violence and male fantasies in the context of fascist ideology, for a psychological profile of these men.

Interview with Peter Weibel
Between Near and Far Sensing

Interview with Peter Weibel, Chairman and CEO of the ZKM, Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, about Faith in Images; the ordinary and the sublime; and The dream of Universalism.

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