News, Events, and Highlights Recent news, events, and highlights from the Digital Humanism Initiative. Summer School Digital Humanism Summer School 2023 2023-09-19 Join leading experts in informatics, social sciences, and humanities to collaborate on pressing issues of digital politics, economy, and technology. Workshop Digital Humanism Summit 2023-07-03 The Digital Humanism Initiative comes together to identify possible responses to challenges that AI brings. Book Perspectives on Digital Humanism 2021-11-23 Open Access Book with Essays from Computer Science, Law, and Humanities. Lecture Series DIGHUM Lecture: Kay Firth-Butterfield 2023-06-27 Lecture Series Jason Steinhauer: “History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past” 2023-06-13 Jason Steinhauer outlines how the web and social media have changed the way we learn and communicate about history. Lecture Series Alexander Pretschner: “Software Can Do Wrong: On Ethics in Agile Software Engineering” 2023-05-16 Alexander Pretschner talks about ethics in agile software engineering. Event Inauguration of the UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism 2023-05-15 TU Wien Informatics launches the first UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism to address the ethical, societal, and political challenges of digital technology. Lecture Series Helga Nowotny and George Metakides: “Statement of the Digital Humanism Initiative on ChatGPT and a possible new online world” 2023-03-28 Following the recent occurrence of ChatGPT, Helga Nowotny and George Metakides will outline a possible new online world. Brochure Digital Humanism in Vienna 2023-03-15 Brochure “Digital Humanism in Vienna” by the City of Vienna. Lecture Series Gary Marcus: “On Chat-GPT” 2023-03-09 Gary Marcus talks about Chat-GPT. Lecture Series Cory Doctorow: “Seize the Means of Computation” 2023-03-07 Cory Doctorow talks about tech giants and a free and fair future with technology. Lecture Series Tina Peterson: “Abstracted power and responsibility” 2023-02-21 In this interactive talk, Tina Peterson introduces a new concept of responsible technology. Lecture Series James A. Landay: “AI For Good Isn't Good Enough: A Call for Human-Centered AI” 2023-01-24 James A. Landay talks about the Human-Centered AI. Discussion Round Responsible AI in China 2022-12-19 Pingjing Yang talks about responsible AI in China. Lecture Series Luke Munn: “The Uselessness of AI Ethics” 2022-12-06 Luke Munn and Erich Prem discuss about the AI ethics and uselessness of AI guidelines. Lecture Who Elected Big Tech? 2022-11-25 IWM Digital Humanism Fellow Allison Stanger speaks about technological innovation and power shifts. IWM Workshop In the Shadow of Big Tech 2022-11-23 IWM Workshop with Allison Stanger, Paul Timmers, George Metakides and Guests. IWM Fellowship Lecture Open Societies and Democratic Sustainability in the Shadow of Big Tech 2022-11-22 Lecture of the IWM Digital Humanism Fellowship Program. Lecture Series David Rolnick “Is AI good or bad for the climate? It's complicated” 2022-11-15 David Rolnick talks about the AI and its impact on climate. Lecture Series Kate Crawford: “Rocks, Flesh, and Rockets: A Political Ecology of AI” 2022-10-18 Kate Crawford maps the global impacts of large-scale computation on the environment, personal data, and human labor. Summer School Digital Humanism Summer School 2022-09-19 Join leading experts in informatics, social sciences, and humanities to collaborate on pressing issues of digital politics, economy, and technology. Lecture Series Eric Horvitz: “AI Advances, Responsibilities, and Governance” 2022-06-28 Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft, tells us about the potential costs of AI and corporate responsibilities. Lecture Series Edward A. Lee: “Limits of Machines, Limits of Humans” 2022-05-24 Edward A. Lee, distinguished computer scientist and expert on societal implications of technology, talks about the limits of explainable AI. Lecture Series Frances Haugen: “The Facebook Files” 2022-05-17 Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen will talk about accountability & transparency in Social Media. Panel Discussion Algorithms. Data. Surveillance – Is There a Way Out? 2022-05-05 Panelists Marc Rotenberg, Christiane Wendehorst, and Hannes Werthner discuss democracy, digitalization, and ways to take action. Moderation by Josef Broukal. Lecture Series Carles Sierra: “Responsible Artificial Intelligence” 2022-04-26 Carles Sierra talks about responsible technology and how to counteract social fears of AI. Lecture Series David Danks: “AI Ethics as Translational Ethics” 2022-04-05 David Danks talks about the ethical implications of AI and how we can create ethics specific to AI design, development, and deployment. Lecture Series Benjamin Gregg: “How Artificial Intelligence May One Day Threaten the Political Capacity of Human Intelligence” 2022-03-29 Benjamin Gregg talks about how some forms of artificial intelligence may one day threaten the political capacity of human intelligence. Workshop Towards a Research and Innovation Roadmap 2022-03-03 How to advance digital technologies towards realizing inclusion and democratic societies. The 4th Workshop on Digital Humanism. Lecture Series Melanie Mitchell: “Why AI is Harder Than We Think” 2022-02-22 Melanie Mitchell talks about why the development of long-promised AI tech has turned out to be much harder than many people expected. Lecture Series Daniel Samaan: “Job Scenarios 2030: How the World of Work has Changed Around the Globe” 2022-02-08 Daniel Samaan talks about how the world of work will look like in 2030. Moderation by George Metakides. Lecture Series Antonio Casilli: “What is a 'Truly Ethical' Artificial Intelligence? An end-to-end approach to responsible and humane technological systems” 2022-01-25 Antonio Casilli talks about an end-to-end approach to responsible and humane technological systems. Lecture Series Minxin Pei: “Transition From Labor-intensive to Tech-intensive Surveillance in China” 2021-11-16 Minxin Pei talks about the effectiveness of the Chinese surveillance state. Lecture Series Marc Rotenberg: “Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Values: What is the Path Forward?” 2021-11-09 Marc Rotenberg talks about how effectively new policy frameworks address AI-related challenges in the areas of human rights and democratic values. Lecture Series Ben Shneiderman: “Human-Centered AI: A New Synthesis” 2021-10-12 Ben Shneiderman talks about Human-Centered AI (HCAI), an emerging new synthesis of AI technologies and HCI approaches. Lecture Series Roberto Di Cosmo: “Should we preserve the world's software history, and can we?” 2021-06-29 Roberto Di Cosmo (INRIA, France) and Edward A. Lee (UC Berkeley, USA) discuss the role of software in cultural heritage. Lecture Series Allison Stanger: “Digital Humanism and Democracy in Geopolitical Context” 2021-06-15 What are the effects of corporate surveillance in either autocracies or liberal democracies? Lecture Series Irina Orssich: “The New EU Proposal for AI Regulation” 2021-06-08 Irina Orssich (European Commission) aims at contributing to the public debate of how AI should be regulated in the future. Vienna Gödel Lecture Moshe Y. Vardi: “Technology Is Driving the Future, but Who Is Steering?” 2021-05-27 In this year’s Gödel lecture, Moshe Vardi will explain why the ethical lens is too narrow for dealing with technology’s impact on society. Lecture Series Cristiano Codagnone: “The Platform Economy and Europe: Between Regulation and Digital Geopolitics” 2021-05-18 Cristiano Codagnone explains why platforms are not simply technological corporations but a form of quasi-infrastructure. Lecture Series Ricardo Baeza-Yates: “Ethics in AI: A Challenging Task” 2021-05-04 Different biases affect all of us on the Web. Ricardo Baeza-Yates explains how we can become aware of them and safeguard a concept of ethics in AI. Lecture Series Ron Roozendaal: “Vaccination Passports – a tool for liberation or the opposite?” 2021-04-20 How can apps like the “Green Passport” be made reliable and privacy-preserving? And can they pave the way back to normality? Lecture Series Sally Wyatt, Jeanne Lenders, Hinda Haned, Judy Wajcman, and Erin Young: “(Gender) Diversity and Inclusion in Digital Humanism” 2021-04-13 This panel focuses on how different voices and interests can be included in the development and application of digital technologies. Lecture Series Saa Dittoh, Narayanan Kulathuramaiyer, and Anna Bon “Digital Society, Social Justice and Academic Education” 2021-03-23 This panel focuses on how digital technologies' ethical and social aspects can be handled adequately in academic research. Lecture Series Pilar del Castillo, Lokke Moerel, and Yvo Volman: “Preventing Data Colonialism without resorting to protectionism - The European strategy” 2021-02-23 This panel discussion will focus on the processing and exploitation of European citizens' data by non-European companies. Lecture Series Sunimal Mendis: “Freedom of Expression in the Digital Public Sphere” 2021-02-02 This lecture will focus on how social media platforms can shape public discourse by their algorithmic content moderation. Lecture Series June Lowery-Kingston, Jan-Hendrik Passoth, and Michael Veale : “Digital Superpowers and Geopolitics” 2021-01-26 This panel will focus on the modern colonial powers in cyberspace - global concerns controlling digital platforms and social networks. Lecture Series Julian Nida-Rümelin: “Philosophical Foundations of Digital Humanism” 2020-12-15 In our next lecture, Julian Nida-Rümelin will develop the main features of what he calls Digital Humanism. Workshop Strategies for a Humanistic Digital Future 2020-11-19 We invite you to our online workshop on Digital Humanism to discuss AI in Europe, education, and resilient sustainable systems. Lecture Series Deborah G. Johnson, Guglielmo Tamburrini, and Yi Zeng: “Ethics and IT: How AI is Reshaping our World” 2020-11-03 This panel discussion, part of our DIGHUM lecture series, will deal with the ethical implications and global challenges of AI.
Summer School Digital Humanism Summer School 2023 2023-09-19 Join leading experts in informatics, social sciences, and humanities to collaborate on pressing issues of digital politics, economy, and technology.
Workshop Digital Humanism Summit 2023-07-03 The Digital Humanism Initiative comes together to identify possible responses to challenges that AI brings.
Book Perspectives on Digital Humanism 2021-11-23 Open Access Book with Essays from Computer Science, Law, and Humanities.
Lecture Series Jason Steinhauer: “History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past” 2023-06-13 Jason Steinhauer outlines how the web and social media have changed the way we learn and communicate about history.
Lecture Series Alexander Pretschner: “Software Can Do Wrong: On Ethics in Agile Software Engineering” 2023-05-16 Alexander Pretschner talks about ethics in agile software engineering.
Event Inauguration of the UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism 2023-05-15 TU Wien Informatics launches the first UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism to address the ethical, societal, and political challenges of digital technology.
Lecture Series Helga Nowotny and George Metakides: “Statement of the Digital Humanism Initiative on ChatGPT and a possible new online world” 2023-03-28 Following the recent occurrence of ChatGPT, Helga Nowotny and George Metakides will outline a possible new online world.
Brochure Digital Humanism in Vienna 2023-03-15 Brochure “Digital Humanism in Vienna” by the City of Vienna.
Lecture Series Cory Doctorow: “Seize the Means of Computation” 2023-03-07 Cory Doctorow talks about tech giants and a free and fair future with technology.
Lecture Series Tina Peterson: “Abstracted power and responsibility” 2023-02-21 In this interactive talk, Tina Peterson introduces a new concept of responsible technology.
Lecture Series James A. Landay: “AI For Good Isn't Good Enough: A Call for Human-Centered AI” 2023-01-24 James A. Landay talks about the Human-Centered AI.
Discussion Round Responsible AI in China 2022-12-19 Pingjing Yang talks about responsible AI in China.
Lecture Series Luke Munn: “The Uselessness of AI Ethics” 2022-12-06 Luke Munn and Erich Prem discuss about the AI ethics and uselessness of AI guidelines.
Lecture Who Elected Big Tech? 2022-11-25 IWM Digital Humanism Fellow Allison Stanger speaks about technological innovation and power shifts.
IWM Workshop In the Shadow of Big Tech 2022-11-23 IWM Workshop with Allison Stanger, Paul Timmers, George Metakides and Guests.
IWM Fellowship Lecture Open Societies and Democratic Sustainability in the Shadow of Big Tech 2022-11-22 Lecture of the IWM Digital Humanism Fellowship Program.
Lecture Series David Rolnick “Is AI good or bad for the climate? It's complicated” 2022-11-15 David Rolnick talks about the AI and its impact on climate.
Lecture Series Kate Crawford: “Rocks, Flesh, and Rockets: A Political Ecology of AI” 2022-10-18 Kate Crawford maps the global impacts of large-scale computation on the environment, personal data, and human labor.
Summer School Digital Humanism Summer School 2022-09-19 Join leading experts in informatics, social sciences, and humanities to collaborate on pressing issues of digital politics, economy, and technology.
Lecture Series Eric Horvitz: “AI Advances, Responsibilities, and Governance” 2022-06-28 Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft, tells us about the potential costs of AI and corporate responsibilities.
Lecture Series Edward A. Lee: “Limits of Machines, Limits of Humans” 2022-05-24 Edward A. Lee, distinguished computer scientist and expert on societal implications of technology, talks about the limits of explainable AI.
Lecture Series Frances Haugen: “The Facebook Files” 2022-05-17 Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen will talk about accountability & transparency in Social Media.
Panel Discussion Algorithms. Data. Surveillance – Is There a Way Out? 2022-05-05 Panelists Marc Rotenberg, Christiane Wendehorst, and Hannes Werthner discuss democracy, digitalization, and ways to take action. Moderation by Josef Broukal.
Lecture Series Carles Sierra: “Responsible Artificial Intelligence” 2022-04-26 Carles Sierra talks about responsible technology and how to counteract social fears of AI.
Lecture Series David Danks: “AI Ethics as Translational Ethics” 2022-04-05 David Danks talks about the ethical implications of AI and how we can create ethics specific to AI design, development, and deployment.
Lecture Series Benjamin Gregg: “How Artificial Intelligence May One Day Threaten the Political Capacity of Human Intelligence” 2022-03-29 Benjamin Gregg talks about how some forms of artificial intelligence may one day threaten the political capacity of human intelligence.
Workshop Towards a Research and Innovation Roadmap 2022-03-03 How to advance digital technologies towards realizing inclusion and democratic societies. The 4th Workshop on Digital Humanism.
Lecture Series Melanie Mitchell: “Why AI is Harder Than We Think” 2022-02-22 Melanie Mitchell talks about why the development of long-promised AI tech has turned out to be much harder than many people expected.
Lecture Series Daniel Samaan: “Job Scenarios 2030: How the World of Work has Changed Around the Globe” 2022-02-08 Daniel Samaan talks about how the world of work will look like in 2030. Moderation by George Metakides.
Lecture Series Antonio Casilli: “What is a 'Truly Ethical' Artificial Intelligence? An end-to-end approach to responsible and humane technological systems” 2022-01-25 Antonio Casilli talks about an end-to-end approach to responsible and humane technological systems.
Lecture Series Minxin Pei: “Transition From Labor-intensive to Tech-intensive Surveillance in China” 2021-11-16 Minxin Pei talks about the effectiveness of the Chinese surveillance state.
Lecture Series Marc Rotenberg: “Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Values: What is the Path Forward?” 2021-11-09 Marc Rotenberg talks about how effectively new policy frameworks address AI-related challenges in the areas of human rights and democratic values.
Lecture Series Ben Shneiderman: “Human-Centered AI: A New Synthesis” 2021-10-12 Ben Shneiderman talks about Human-Centered AI (HCAI), an emerging new synthesis of AI technologies and HCI approaches.
Lecture Series Roberto Di Cosmo: “Should we preserve the world's software history, and can we?” 2021-06-29 Roberto Di Cosmo (INRIA, France) and Edward A. Lee (UC Berkeley, USA) discuss the role of software in cultural heritage.
Lecture Series Allison Stanger: “Digital Humanism and Democracy in Geopolitical Context” 2021-06-15 What are the effects of corporate surveillance in either autocracies or liberal democracies?
Lecture Series Irina Orssich: “The New EU Proposal for AI Regulation” 2021-06-08 Irina Orssich (European Commission) aims at contributing to the public debate of how AI should be regulated in the future.
Vienna Gödel Lecture Moshe Y. Vardi: “Technology Is Driving the Future, but Who Is Steering?” 2021-05-27 In this year’s Gödel lecture, Moshe Vardi will explain why the ethical lens is too narrow for dealing with technology’s impact on society.
Lecture Series Cristiano Codagnone: “The Platform Economy and Europe: Between Regulation and Digital Geopolitics” 2021-05-18 Cristiano Codagnone explains why platforms are not simply technological corporations but a form of quasi-infrastructure.
Lecture Series Ricardo Baeza-Yates: “Ethics in AI: A Challenging Task” 2021-05-04 Different biases affect all of us on the Web. Ricardo Baeza-Yates explains how we can become aware of them and safeguard a concept of ethics in AI.
Lecture Series Ron Roozendaal: “Vaccination Passports – a tool for liberation or the opposite?” 2021-04-20 How can apps like the “Green Passport” be made reliable and privacy-preserving? And can they pave the way back to normality?
Lecture Series Sally Wyatt, Jeanne Lenders, Hinda Haned, Judy Wajcman, and Erin Young: “(Gender) Diversity and Inclusion in Digital Humanism” 2021-04-13 This panel focuses on how different voices and interests can be included in the development and application of digital technologies.
Lecture Series Saa Dittoh, Narayanan Kulathuramaiyer, and Anna Bon “Digital Society, Social Justice and Academic Education” 2021-03-23 This panel focuses on how digital technologies' ethical and social aspects can be handled adequately in academic research.
Lecture Series Pilar del Castillo, Lokke Moerel, and Yvo Volman: “Preventing Data Colonialism without resorting to protectionism - The European strategy” 2021-02-23 This panel discussion will focus on the processing and exploitation of European citizens' data by non-European companies.
Lecture Series Sunimal Mendis: “Freedom of Expression in the Digital Public Sphere” 2021-02-02 This lecture will focus on how social media platforms can shape public discourse by their algorithmic content moderation.
Lecture Series June Lowery-Kingston, Jan-Hendrik Passoth, and Michael Veale : “Digital Superpowers and Geopolitics” 2021-01-26 This panel will focus on the modern colonial powers in cyberspace - global concerns controlling digital platforms and social networks.
Lecture Series Julian Nida-Rümelin: “Philosophical Foundations of Digital Humanism” 2020-12-15 In our next lecture, Julian Nida-Rümelin will develop the main features of what he calls Digital Humanism.
Workshop Strategies for a Humanistic Digital Future 2020-11-19 We invite you to our online workshop on Digital Humanism to discuss AI in Europe, education, and resilient sustainable systems.
Lecture Series Deborah G. Johnson, Guglielmo Tamburrini, and Yi Zeng: “Ethics and IT: How AI is Reshaping our World” 2020-11-03 This panel discussion, part of our DIGHUM lecture series, will deal with the ethical implications and global challenges of AI.