Marco Wähner took part in the “KI@Forschungsethik” symposium, which focussed on the challenges that artificial intelligence poses for the work of research ethics committees. The three-day symposium was part of the theme week “Science Ethics: Ethical Dimensions of AI Research and AI in Research”, which took place from 7 to 9 August 2024 at the Xplanatorium Herrenhausen in Hanover. The themed week was organised by the Volkswagen Foundation and led by Prof. Dr Petra Gehring (TU Darmstadt and Centre for Responsible Digitalisation (ZEVEDI)) and Dr Andreas Brenneis (TU Darmstadt).
The symposium aimed to promote practice-oriented discussions on ethical challenges in the assessment of research projects that utilise AI methods. Typical problems encountered by ethics committees when assessing such projects were discussed. Important topics included the reproducibility and explainability of AI processes, data protection and dual use issues, the resilience of professional standards and procedural issues relating to the organisation of ethics committees in the face of growing AI use.
The symposium was characterised by practical case studies, a keynote speech and a concluding panel discussion. The results are to be published in a joint statement.
Further information on the event can be found here.