Media and Technology

A Transatlantic Podcast
The Big Ponder

This transatlantic podcast explores abstract concepts and phenomena through personal radio essays. Every other week, one of our producers transforms a broad topic into a captivating story told from a U.S.-German perspective.

Emotion Recognition Technologies
“We Cannot Begin to Talk About Benefits”

What does it imply when computers recognize and decode emotions? An interview with Alexa Hagerty, researcher on ethical issues in artificial intelligence at the University of Cambridge.

Quantum Computing
Could Quantum Computers Save the Climate?

Some researchers think that quantum computers could one day help to reduce emissions drastically. Quantum physics and technology expert Emily Haworth explains the potential of a “quantum leap” – and why we’re better off not relying on it.

Bias and Error
When the 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.

Digital Natives
Childhood in the Era of Surveillance

Children and youth are the victims of excessive data collection by online applications.  However, children and adolescents in Europe enjoy higher levels of data privacy and protection than those who live in what is called the Global South.

Decentralised Autonomous Organisations
The Opportunities of Block Chain for the Cultural Sector

The future belongs to the blockchain technology. Exciting new opportunities will arise not only for technology companies, but also for the art sector, especially when working with DAOs. Processes can, for example, not only be designed to include more participation, but also to allow the experience of artistic worlds as a connected community.

Shift Society
Exclusive Inclusion?

Why is the internet still full of barriers for people with disabilities? Or isn’t it? NGO founder Tiffany Brar, video influencer Daniel Jones, app developer Javier Montaner and researcher Shai Fuxman discuss the tensions between digital possibilities and their actual realisation – and what everyone in society can do.

Diversity in the media
“Good intentions are not enough”

Too few journalists with an ethnic minority background or from disadvantaged social groups: how can we manage to reflect social diversity in the members of editorial teams? 

Intimacy and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Algorithmic Culture

AI is profoundly shaping culture. Rather than fearing machines that surpass human intelligence, we might consider how human beings are being asked to act more like machines. How might a reconnection to the body, to landscape, and to experiences of diaspora suggest new possibilities?

Meme Tactis
Fighting Algorithmic Censorship

How artists and activists from under-heard and under-represented communities are using technology, memes, and a variety of tactics to subvert algorithmic censorship and media bias to ensure they get their messages across.
 

Data protection
A society is more than the sum of its individuals

Facebook, Siri or Alexa – where artificial intelligence technology is concerned people often complain that there is insufficient protection of privacy. But intelligent systems are less interested in individual data than in generalising and standardising the life contexts they are automating. 

Artificial Intelligence
The machine that unleashes our creativity

British mathematician Marcus du Sautoy is convinced that artificial intelligence (AI) can be as creative as humans and might even attain a state of consciousness in the future.

Digitalism as a cultural technique: From alphanumerics to AI

Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly already influencing our traditional cultural techniques. But have we reached the point where the use of AI itself could be described as a cultural technique? One thing is certain: We have long utilised digital systems in our daily lives despite not having the slightest idea how they work.
 

Tech and Cultural Heritage
New Chapter in African Museology

A visionary idea to modernise museum practice in Africa has come to fruition, thanks to a collaborative effort of cultural activists, academics and political leaders. Ruby Ofori on the launch of Africa’s first digital museum.

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.

Fake News
“We cannot simply ignore disinformation”

What can we do about the flood of false reports, lies and conspiracy theories that make the rounds on the internet every day? Journalist and head of broadcaster ARD’s fact finder team, Patrick Gensing talks about parallel worlds, new pressures on journalists, and how fake news both poses a threat to and strengthens established media at the same time.
 

AI Surveillance
Technological Violence Through High-Risk Experiments at the Border

AI surveillance, drones, iris scanning: fleeing is often perceived as chaotic and confusing, but many states and border protection agencies know exactly who is moving where and when. Lawyer Petra Molnar specialises in technology and migration and sheds light on the techniques used to monitor refugees.

Digital Computing Power
The Future of Digitalisation: Quantum and Neuromorphic Computing

Whether it is automatic speech recognition, self-driving cars or medical research: our need for computing power is constantly on the rise. Yet, the possibilities for increasing the performance of microchips will soon have reached their limit. So where do we go from here?
 

Embracing artificial intelligence to preserve dying languages

As more language preservation initiatives inspired by artificial intelligence emerge, researchers argue that while they cannot fully capture the essence of language, they are a crucial aspect of preserving what is now deemed to be a global linguistic catastrophe.

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
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.
 

Cultural expression and machine learning
The wolf we feed

Whether it is composing music or painting pictures, artificial intelligence has the technical and creative capacity to make art. Argentinian publisher Octavio Kulesz predicts this could lead to an explosion of creativity and increased market concentration at the same time.

The finalists
Image + Bias

We invited artists, designers, and the general public to submit creative representations on the subject of bias and technology’s growing ability to alter people’s visual perception of reality. An international jury selected the ten best works from over 150 submissions.
 

Images and Bias
What Do Normal People Look Like?

What is normal? And what constitutes a normal face? Our brains are constantly analyzing and classifying every face we encounter, and we as people are not alone in this. A whole field of science and technology analyzes these sub-attentive cognitive processes and breaks them down into statistical normalities. Through machine learning, facial recognition is even being used to categorize and predict human behavior.
 

Ethics and Law
“Let’s decide on our own European standards and stick to them”

Do we need to establish common standards for artificial intelligence? In this interview, Karen Yeung, Interdisciplinary Professorial Fellow in Law, Ethics and Informatics at the University of Birmingham, explains why the legal regulation of technological developments is crucial – and urgent.

Loyalty versus Fairness
The Psychological Dimension of Whistleblowing

Whistleblowers seem to have a strong sense of justice and freedom. But what motivates them to turn in their employers or state officials? Psychologist Mark Travers presents four insights that tap into government secrecy, transparency and whistleblowing.

C/Change

C/Change is a new interdisciplinary initiative investigating how emerging technologies, when imbued with intentional design, can open up new channels for cross-cultural connection in a changing world.

Data protection
Digital self-defence

Popular apps often use data in ways their users would not appreciate, but there are alternatives. Digital expert Markus Beckedahl has some tips.

Podcasts
In the most forthright terms

The fact that Germany is colourful and diverse is only partially reflected by the media landscape. The situation is different on the podcast scene – that is where minorities are expressing themselves about what energises them.

Education
Lessons to learn

What do young people need to know about artificial intelligence (AI) in order to use it responsibly and make informed decisions? Stephanie Hankey, co-founder of the Tactical Tech non-governmental organisation (NGO), talks about her experiences with young digital natives and the need for educational institutions and civil society to join forces to promote digital literacy.

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