generative ai

The impact of artificial intelligence on society is so profound that it can be considered to be disruptive. AI does not only have radical consequences for society - as is expressed by the concept of ‘the Fourth Revolution’ and ‘Society 5.0’ that is emerging from that - but also for ethics itself. Technologies have become ethically disruptive, in the sense that they challenge and affect the very concepts with which we can do ethics in the first place. What do’ agency’, ‘responsibility’ and ‘empathy’ mean when artificial agents are entering society? What does ‘democratic representation’ mean when AI systems interfere with the very idea of representation itself? What can the notion of ‘the humane’ still mean when AI systems become an intrinsic part of human actions and decision-making? This talk will explore phenomenon of ethical disruption in detail, by investigating the various ways in which technologies – and not only human beings – can be ethically significant. Breaking the human monopoly on ethics and expanding it towards technology will make it possible to connect ethics more directly to practices of design. The resulting ‘Guidance Ethics Approach’ enables bottom-up ethical reflection that can foster the responsible design, implementation and use of new and emerging technologies. 

Prof. Dr. Peter-Paul Verbeek (Universiteit van Amsterdam, NL)

Peter-Paul Verbeek (1970) is Rector Magnificus and professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Science and Technology at the University of Amsterdam. His research and teaching focus on the relationship between humans and technology, viewed from an ethical perspective and in close relation to design. He is chair of the UNESCO World Commission for the Ethics of Science and Technology (COMEST), editor-in-chief of the Journal of Human-Technology Relations, and editor of the Lexington book series in Postphenomenology and the Philosophy of Technology. More information: www.ppverbeek.nl

Institutions

• UHH

Prof. Dr. Vincent Cornelius Müller, Lehrstuhl für Theory and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen

Taming the Machine. The Ethics in Information Technology Public Lecture Series

This semester’s edition of "Taming the Machines" explores the interrelated ethical, political, and technological aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in an interdisciplinary way. 
 
AI-driven technologies are increasingly shaping the world we live in, sparking growing ethical scrutiny. As a result, it appears more and more urgent that societies collectively address how and in what way the further development of such technologies might be tangibly influenced. And, importantly, by whom this task should be advanced and according to which agendas? Ethicists, legislators, designers, and engineers, each bring distinct expertise and capacities to the multiplicity of social issues raised by these technologies, yet the perspectives and approaches they offer may or may not be complimentary or even simultaneously realisable (let alone mutually satisfactory). Amidst the rising tensions surrounding the AI driven transformation of our shared social space, particularly in the domain of governance and regulation, this lecture series asks how we might best accompany innovation in AI and realise ethically desirable future outcomes. In other words, to delve into the questions of what it means to live well in a society that is increasingly driven by AI tools? What design and regulative choices ought we make? What social infrastructures and normative frameworks might be needed for the future handling of emerging technologies? How could or should openness to innovation be reconciled with defending and developing the ideals of a free and democratic society under the rule of law? 
 
To explore these and other related questions, this public lecture series invites distinguished researchers from computer science, philosophy, and political theory to present and discuss their work. To get the latest updates and details how to attend the lectures, please visit https://www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/eit/taming-the-machines/winter23-24.html

Institutions

• UHH, Ethik in der Informationstechnologie, Koordination: Prof. Dr. Judith Simon

As we had a very positive echo of the Summer School 2023 “Data Science for Explainable and Trustworthy AI”, another one will be organised in 2024 on the topic of “Generative AI”.

The rise of Generative AI, especially with the advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs), marks a transformative era in artificial intelligence that is expanding across all disciplines. LLMs aim to bridge the communication gap between machines and humans, paving the way for models that can grasp the nuances of human language and generate outputs in various formats that mimic human cognition and creativity.
The critical moment for Generative AI came with the adoption of neural networks, particularly transformer-based architectures, which have become its backbone. These models stand out for their profound ability to digest and learn from extensive corpora and datasets, and also to generate original, contextually rich content. But we are just at the beginning. The emerging models present challenges related to ethics, reliability, the way we experiment with these models, the scope of their inferences, their applications to more specific domains, etc. All this has created a vibrant field of work and opens the doors to a community that we hope will find the right forum in this Summer School.

Institutions

• STATEC, Luxembourg; EuADS Treasurer
• U of Bristol, UK; EuADS Vice-President
• U of Göttingen, Germany
• Germany; EuADS Vice-President
• LMU Munich, Germany; EuADS President
• U of Essex, UK
• CUNEF Universidad, Spain
• U of Cordoba, Spain
• STATEC, Luxembourg
• Bielefeld Center for Data Science, Germany

With the launch of ChatGPT last year and the ensuing debate about the benefits and potential risks of generative AI, also the work on the European AI Act shifted into a higher gear. The European Council and Parliament, working on their respective compromise texts, had to find ways to accommodate this new phenomenon. The attempts to adapt the AI Act went hand in hand with a lively public debate on what was so new and different about generative AI, whether it raised new, not yet anticipated risks, and how to best address a technology whose societal implications are not yet well understood. Most importantly, was the AI Act outdated even before is adopted? In my presentation I would like to discuss the different approaches that the Council and Parliament adopted to governing Generative AI, the most salient points of discussion and the different approaches proposed to solve some of the key ethical and societal concerns around the rise of generative AI.

Prof. Dr. Natali Helberger (Universiteit van Amsterdam, NL)
Natali Helberger is Distinguished University Professor of Law and Digital Technology, with a special focus on AI, at the University of Amsterdam and a member of the Institute for Information Law (IViR). Her research on AI and automated decision systems focuses on its impact on society and governance. Helberger co-founded the Research Priority Area Information, Communication, and the Data Society, which has played a leading role in shaping the international discussion on digital communication and platform governance. She is a founding member of the Human(e) AI research program and leads the Digital Transformation Initiative at the Faculty of Law. Since 2021, Helberger has also been director of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab, and since 2022, scientific director of the Algosoc (Public Values in the Algorithmic Society) Gravitation Consortium. A major focus of the Algosoc program is to mentor and train the next generation of interdisciplinary researchers. She is a member of several national and international research groups and committees, including the Council of Europe's Expert Group on AI and Freedom of Expression.

Institutions

• UHH

Prof. Dr. Louise Amoore, Durham University, Durham, UK

Institutions

• UHH

Institutions

• UHH

Prof. Dr. Mathias Risse, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Institutions

• UHH

 Prof. Dr. Andra Siibak, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estland

Present day children’s futures are decided by algorithms predicting their probability of success at school, their suitability for a job position, their likely recidivism or mental health problems. Advances in predictive analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) systems, behavioral-, and biometrics technologies, have started to be aggressively used for monitoring, aggregating, and analyzing children’s data. Such dataveillance happening both in homes, schools, and peer networks has a profound impact not only on children’s preferences, social relations, life chances, rights and privacy but also the "future of human agency - and ultimately, of society and culture" (Mascheroni & Siibak 2021: 169).

Building upon the findings of my different empirical case studies, I will showcase how the popular digital parenting practices and the growing datafication happening in the education sector, could create not only hypothetical data scares but also lead to real data scars in the lives of the young.

Institutions

• UHH

Vincent C. Müller is AvH Professor for Philosophy and Ethics of AI and Director of the Centre for Philosophy and AI Research (PAIR) at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg

It is now frequently observed that there is no proper scope and no proper method in the discipline of AI-ethics. This has become an issue in the development towards maturity of the discipline, e.g. canonical problems, positions, arguments … secure steps forward. We propose a minimal, yet universal view of the field (again Müller 2020). Given this proposal, we will know the scope and the method, and we can appreciate the wide set of contributions.

Institutions

• UHH

Prof. Dr. Aimee van Wynsberghe, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, D

Institutions

• UHH