Internet&Society

Episode Six, in which we learn about online learning. What are the fundamental differences of online education compared to offline one? How will the Corona crisis influence the future of education? Will the digitalization of education democratize knowledge or, rather, reinforce social inequalities? Dr. Gergana Vladova talks about the benefits and limitations of teaching and learning online. She heads the research group “Education and Advanced Training in the Digital Society” at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, Berlin. She works on the topics of competence development in the context of digitalization, as well as of knowledge management and innovation management. In the past months, she has been studying the impact of the Corona crisis on the process of education.

Episode Five, in which we approach artificial intelligence through art. How can art facilitate a public debate about the development of new technologies? Can art serve as a mediator between researchers and society? How can creative participation and creative disobedience help us shape the future, one that would be tailored to the needs and values of our communities?

Dr. Diana Serbanescu is a computer scientist and a cultural scholar with a focus on interdisciplinary research. She is a research group leader in the project "Criticality of Artificial Intelligence" at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, and a co-founder of the “Institute for Creative Anticipation and Performing Arts” in Berlin.

Episode Four, in which we try to look into the future of manufacturing. What exactly is “Industry 4.0” and how does it impact our society? If we all live in autonomous smart homes and print everything we need with 3D printers, will our economies be more sustainable? How will the Corona crisis affect the digitalization of industry and its sustainability?

Dr. Grischa Beier is the research group leader in the project “Digitalisation and Impacts on Sustainability" at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany. In this episode, he talks about different aspects of Industry 4.0 and contemplates the best-case and worst-case scenarios of its future development.

Episode Three, in which we turn to ethics. What is the trade-off between privacy and security? Can we have a thriving society and innovations without a freedom of speech? Does a digital revolution mean that we also need a revolution in governance? Will artificial general intelligence (AGI) substitute doctors and teachers in the future?

Joanna Bryson, Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, talks about the ethical challenges we face in the process of digitalization – in the time of coronavirus crisis and beyond. 

Episode Two, in which we question the global Internet governance and contemplate the new normal after the Corona Crisis. Does the digitalization, which is increasing with the pandemic, challenge traditional power relations in the world? What should the democratic governance of a platform society look like? What are the challenges in the governance of smart cities managed by global tech companies such as Google? Does online education transform the legitimization of knowledge in society?

Dr. Blayne Haggart is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Brock University in Canada. His current research focuses on the international political economy of knowledge governance and on Internet governance.

1.23 Will the Corona pandemic accelerate the digitalization of all aspects of our lives?

5.32 Tech companies such as Google have started to build physical infrastructures for smart cities. What’s living in a smart city like the one in Toronto like? What are the challenges of governing it?

14.07 Global platforms are gaining more and more structural power in the world, both online and offline. Does that challenge the power of nation states?

23.57 Will we face a new normal after the Corona Crisis?

29.27 The pandemic forces us to move education online. Does it transform the existing structures of legitimizing knowledge and gaining expertise?

36.58 It is realistic that we will come up with a democratic solution of governing our digital society?

Episode 1, in which we start with the past.  How does the digital impact the way we remember? What happens to our collective memory in the age of Google and Facebook? Do fragmented memories endanger our society? Dr. Andrei Zavadski talks about the phenomenon of digital memories. He is a Berlin-based multidisciplinary researcher and writer working at the intersection of memory studies, public history, and media studies.