The ‘Good Reasons’ for Political Participation on the Internet: An Incentive Model for Participation in Online Consultation Procedures

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

Citizen participation is a prerequisite for democracy. However, there is disagreement in various democratic theories about the role citizens should play in political decision-making processes within a representative democracy. An empirical critique of the relationship between democracy and participation can be found in the unequal participation of citizens. Political participation is not randomly distributed across […]

Digitalization for facilitating the circular economy in Ukrainian industry based on the European Union experience

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

The circular economy model is actively implemented in Europe at the current stage of economic development, taking into account the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the emergence of new digital opportunities. The current socio-economic system of Ukraine based on linear economy has significant shortcomings in the long term, which are a threat to energy, environmental […]

Global Perspectives on Platforms and Cultural Production

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

The widespread uptake of digital platforms – from YouTube and Instagram to TikTok and ChatGPT– is reconfiguring cultural production in profound, complex, and highly uneven ways around the globe. Longstanding media industries are experiencing tremendous upheaval, while new industrial formations – live-streaming, social media creation, and podcasting, among others – are evolving at a breakneck […]

Roundtable: Voices; Countervoices: Competing narratives for diasporic mobilizations via the digital medium

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

Concept Note The digital revolution has fundamentally transformed how diasporic communities organize, mobilize, and contest their notions of identity and belonging across transnational spaces, creating complex arenas where competing narratives emerge and clash. This roundtable examines the dynamic interplay between voices and countervoices emanating within diasporic digital spaces, investigating how different narratives compete for legitimacy […]

Design of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

Our research program aims to develop principles of trustworthy artificial intelligence together with users in practical fields of application. A particular focus lies on social media and how social media can be improved. In this talk, our team will provide an overview of our recent activities.

CAISspecial: Is the societal division increasing? The milieu approach as an impulse for polarization research

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

In the 2025 federal election, German society seemed to be more divided than ever. Christiane Eilders and Olaf Jandura (Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences) use current survey data to show how various lines of conflict have developed and what role the use of information via social media plays. To do this, they combine milieu research with […]

AI in Education: From Stochastic Parrots to Synergistic Partners

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

This talk explores the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, focusing on its multifaceted conceptualisations as tools, cognitive models, and agents of human-AI hybrid intelligence . Highlighting recent advancements in generative AI, the talk critically examines its promise and limitations in supporting both student learning and teacher practices. While AI presents some opportunities for […]

Lunchtime Talk: (Un)Clear History: Queer Memory, Precarity, and Instagram as Counter-archive

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

The subject of this research is the use of Instagram as a space for archiving and memorialising LGBTQI+ histories. Instagram constitutes a curated personal archive for viewing by other users of the site. However, there are numerous examples of Instagram pages being used as community spaces which archive and memorialise a particular time, place, community […]

Lunchtime Talk: Red Algorithms: A Scoping Review on the Impact and Integration of Socialist Principles in AI Technologies

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

Artificial intelligence (AI) is often designed to maximize profit and efficiency, but what if it were built to serve the public good instead? This project explores how AI can be developed with socialist principles, focusing on fairness, collective benefit, and social welfare. Through a systematic review of existing research, it identifies key trends, challenges, and […]

Lunchtime Talk: The Effects of Deepfake on Media and Law – a Comprehensive Overview of Deepfake Content Regulation

CAIS + virtuell Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, Bochum

The project takes on the conceptualization of deepfake and compares its regulation in different legislative frameworks. The work will be among the first bigger projects that directly address deepfake regulation; it will undertake reviewing constitutional and human rights, criminal law, and AI/platform regulation perspectives to outline the current state of law and how it can […]