What’s true, and what’s a lie? Many an outrageous report on the internet has subsequently turned out to be pure invention. For this reason fact-checkers, who verify information, have a key role to play in the age of social media. We take a look at the opportunities and limitations of exposing fake news.
Is it possible to control the power of the big social media platforms using democratic processes? Cultural scientist Michael Seemann talks about the shaping of public opinion in the digital space.
Ruben Hilari Quispe hopes to firmly anchor the Aymara language and culture on the Internet. The Aymara live in the Qullasuyu region of Bolivia. Ruben introduces them to us here.
Digital progress always has a dark side too: facial recognition can be used for surveillance, and some forms of Artificial Intelligence discriminate against minorities. The next major technology advancement could be quantum mechanics. What can we expect? An interview with quantum physicist Tommaso Calarco from Forschungszentrum Jülich.
A look at the history of the borderlands of pop culture and technology: How has the romantic relationship between humans and machines developed over the past decades?
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.
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.
Even today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) already plays a key role in journalism: algorithms find stories in large data sets and automatically generate thousands of texts. Very soon, AI could become a critical infrastructure of media production.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Germany has committed to halving food waste by 2030. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV are looking for artificial intelligence approaches that could get us closer to this goal.
What are the concerns and hopes of young Europeans about artificial intelligence? The study “We and AI” tried to find out. Emilija Gagrčin, one of the authors, talks about expected and surprising results in an interview.
Artificial intelligence is like a mother who arranges everything for us, – says psychologist Pavla Koucká. If we are not careful, we will end up like spoiled children – dependent and unable to develop real relationships. How can we make meaningful use of artificial intelligence while continuing to develop as humans?
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?
Artificial intelligence making art puts a new spin on age-old questions, such as if AI art can really be called art, and who gets credit as the artist – the machine, the programmer or the person whose data was fed into the algorithm.
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 future: a discussion on the current creative limitations of AI, its ability to surprise us, and how AI changes the way our species is looking at its own creativity.
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.
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.
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.
What place does artificial intelligence have in the health sector, where human interaction is so important? In our interview, scientist Rahul Panicker points out some of the problems of AI - and how it could still help us in times of pandemics.
When people think of the use of AI in warfare, most of them think of “killer robots”, drones. But could it also be used for peacekeeping operations? In our interview, Angela Kane, former Under-Secretary-General of the UN, explains the implementation of AI in UN-operations and its up and downsides.
We are in the midst of climate change and must use AI to tackle this challenge, says deputy director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre Victor Galaz. At the same time, AI technologies are used to harm the climate further. How can we find a balance between these poles?
Formats like virtual reality, the metaverse, or 3D animation can allow people with disabilities to walk, express themselves, or move. Uruguayan artist Fabián Barros experiments with virtual environments and talks about how technology can fuel inclusion.
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.
The internet as we know it is shaped by algorithms based on a patriarchal and (neo-)colonial value system. Our author Francesca Schmidt argues in favour of feminist intervention to make society more equitable both on and offline.
Is the Internet merely a reflection of the current political and social decline in much of Latin America or a bastion of creative and expressive freedom in the region? We asked Germán Rey, a Colombian expert on media, communication and culture.
It isn’t just the big international tech corporations who are holding heated discussions about staff returning to the office in summer 2022. Plenty of employees would like to remain at home in Germany too: what makes the home office so attractive?
During the Covid-19 lockdowns, the widespread use of “uberized” home delivery services threw more light on the “gig economy”, which uses digital platforms to put customers in touch with freelancers. Who works in this sector and what are these precarious jobs like?
Working with a team of translators and literati, writer Ann Cotten co-translated the book “Glitch Feminism” by US-American Legacy Russell. What does translate a book like this into German involve? And what is glitch feminism exactly?
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.
Many people routinely use machine translation services like Google Translate to translate text into another language. But these tools also often reflect social bias.
Supposedly funny images on Facebook, a fake dating profile on Tinder, insults on Twitter: in this interview, Anna Wegscheider from advisory organisation Hate-Aid discusses gender-specific differences in digital violence and the slow-moving judiciary.
The “Fight for the Net” card game exposes the methods and motives of the actors behind misinformation. Creators Elena Falomo and Matthias C. Kettemann talk about the game’s backstory, aims, and mechanics.
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.
Protesting in person is not always an option for activists in countries where protests are heavily restricted. How can activists bring attention to issues in other spaces, such as online? Arshak Makichyan, a climate activist from Moscow, discusses his experiences with protesting in Russia both on- and offline.
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.
The content we find on the internet – which search results, videos and social media posts come up first – is increasingly determined by a few giant internet corporations. As such, they influence not only our consumer behaviour, but also how we form our political opinions. The EU’s Digital Services Act is designed to ensure greater transparency.
What started as a coping mechanism turned out to be a powerful driving-force for thousands of womxn, non-binary, trans, and queer folk. While the world was going through lockdown, we decided to create a space to provide us, and the community we belong to, with hope, love, music and joy: HammamRadio.
An uprising is underway in Belarus – against the government that has been in power for 26 years. Thoughts on the protest movement, today's “post” time and the future.
An interview with curator Joel Kwong and artist Eric Siu about solidarity, collective intelligence and being water during the mass protests in Hong Kong in 2019-2020.
Vanessa Blanco and Daniela Ropero are two young women who are fighting for a fairer Venezuela. In our interview, the two talk to us about challenges and hopes in a country that finds itself in a permanent state of political and economic crisis.
Vândria Borari, an indigenous leader, lawyer and human rights defender, joined Camila Nobrega, a researcher and journalist working on social-environmental justice, to discuss their visions for a sustainable and just internet.
Politics is a serious business. It’s about money, power and resources. At present, and this is new in terms of cultural history, even our existence itself is at stake, i.e. the question of whether and how long people will still be able to live on this planet. At the same time, however, in this digital age politics is mutating more and more into a game. Signs without meaning are plying a nefarious trade.
In the worst case, targeted disinformation can become a real and present threat to our democracy. A number of initiatives in Germany have responded by taking on the mission of fact checking information on the net.
People are more vulnerable to conspiracy ideologies when they fear a loss of control, making the corona pandemic the perfect storm. In an interview, political scientist and net activist Katharina Nocun explains how we should react when encountering people who subscribe to conspiracy theories.
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.
How does our digital age shape the memory of the Holocaust? Survivor Abba Naor, German scholar Ernst Hüttl, press officer of the Auschwitz Memorial Pawel Sawicki and student Emely Fuchs talk about experiences, opportunities and risks.
Quantum technology is becoming the “next big thing”. Many agree on that. But what does this mean for society, culture and the arts? A comprehensive analysis by Lucy Rose Sollitt.
Ent- 2022, commissioned by Light Art Space. The Evolution of Ent-: QX commissioned by arebyte Gallery. Photo credit: Max Colson.
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.
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.
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?
Who is responsible in an accident involving a self-driving car? A research centre at the University of Würzburg deals with precisely such techno-legal questions.
Humanoid robots, whether compliant or anarchic, are products of our pop culture: Metropolis, Star Wars, Jane Fonda and Missy Elliot, all of them design the futurisms of new technology and their aesthetics. Nowadays, they predict the look of the future dialectically with robotics.
How do you completely eliminate bias in recruiting situations? With robots - claims software developer Vanja Tufvesson. She has founded an NGO, which organizes Coding Camps for women-identifying people, and has worked on the development on the world’s first unbiased robot.
When machines become “social” interaction partners, we need to revisit our understanding of sociality. This is a conversation with the philosopher, Johanna Seibt, Aarhus University, who works in the new research area of “robophilosophy”and launched the biennial conference, which in 2020 took place online from 18 to 21 August.
Virtual reality, 3D animation and robotics have long been used by theatre directors in other countries but they have yet to be embraced as tools of stagecraft in Germany. That is about to change. The new Akademie für Digitalität und Theater (Academy for Digitality and Theatre) in Dortmund is set to revolutionise the German theatrical landscape.
A blockchain technology is making waves in the art scene. For the first time, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are making it possible to trade digital art just like paintings, sculptures or photographs – and charge equally high prices. We look at what non-fungible tokens are all about and how they can bring in so much money.
Virtual Reality is taking over in museums. Natural science and art historical exhibition institutions open up unimagined dimensions with the new technology.
The media art project “Smile to Vote” revolves around a voting booth that scans faces and automates the vote-casting process. Its originator, artist Alexander Peterhaensel, criticises the increasing encroachment of technology on privacy.
