Research Lounge
- a series of events organised by the Vice President for Research
Upcoming event:
Research Lounge "Artificial Intelligence (AI)"
The Vice President for Research would like to invite you to join us for information exchange and networking at the Research Lounge on Artificial Intelligence. The Research Lounge will take place on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the LEAP Quantum Technology Hub & Events at Adlershof Campus.
Artificial intelligence systems have been shaping our daily lives for many years, often unnoticed, and will continue to bring about social, political, and economic changes whose magnitude and risks are not always foreseeable today.
AI has long been part of many applications: From translation services and chatbots to driver assistance systems, from analyzing satellite data to predicting pollution levels in the environment, from surveillance technologies to autonomous weapons systems.
Current debates, which focus mainly on language models but also on visualization and programming techniques, often focus on the existential risks for humanity, sometimes drawing comparisons with the development of the atomic bomb or classifying AI as possibly the last invention of mankind. However, AI also offers the opportunity to drive forward economically and socially significant developments that are sustainable and oriented towards the common good.
The Research Lounge aims to bring together the diversity of research questions and perspectives on artificial intelligence at Humboldt-Universität and in the Berlin area, to provide information about projects, and to facilitate the exchange between scientists.
Talks should be short and should not exceed 7 minutes in length. Topics may include but are not limited to
- AI methodologies in research and teaching
- Perspectives on intelligence research and neuroscience; definitions of human intelligence, artificial intelligence, and super intelligence
- Speech recognition, language understanding; impact of AI on language, writing, reading and other cultural techniques, deskilling
- Privatization of technological infrastructures and related dependencies, digital sovereignty
- Deep fakes and threats to democracy and society
- Big data, biased/distorted datasets and challenges for non-discriminatory AI
- Impact of AI technologies on politics, business and science as well as on the German economic structure; social and political control and legal regulation of developments in the field of AI
- CO2 footprint, climate and environmental damage caused by the use of AI, climate protection measures with AI
- Researching sustainability using machine learning and AI systems
- Aspects of the history of ideas, knowledge and technology: From ELIZA to Deep Blue to Siri, Alexa & ChatGPT
- Cinematic, literary, and other media representations of and engagements with AI
- Ethical and moral implications and considerations
We welcome contributions from academics at various career stages and disciplines from the humanities, social sciences, law, life sciences and natural sciences. Interdisciplinary approaches are just as welcome as perspectives from practitioners and developers.
Procedure and further information
- Abstracts of 250 words can be submitted to vpf[at]hu-berlin.de until April 30, 2024 at the latest.
- Speakers will be notified by May 7, 2024.
- If you have any questions, please contact the organizers of the Research Lounge (Uta Sommer, Jana Droese and Melina Radecke) at vpfrefer[at]hu-berlin.de
Past events: