Ingeborg Reichle talks at the Berlin conference AI, Art and Nature
On November 4, Ingeborg Reichle will participate in the conference AI, Art and Nature at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Berlin. This event will bring together artists who deal with “nature” and at the same time explore artificial intelligence (AI) to discuss the following questions with various scientists and experts: How does working with AI is influencing our perspective of nature? Which ethical and aesthetic questions arise in the artistic confrontation with AI? What is the relationship between “artificial” and “natural” intelligence? Invited are Adam Harvey, Ingeborg Reichle, Nausikaä El-Mecky, Thomas Bächle, and many other artists and experts.
The interdisciplinary research group VERANTWORTUNG: MASCHINELLES LERNEN UND KÜNSTLICHE INTELLIGENZ is addressing questions of ethical and legal responsibility that arise in the digital era through machine learning and artificial intelligence: Computer systems will in future increasingly assist us in both private and professional contexts, or will entirely take over activities that have until now been carried out by people. The use of “intelligent” systems can open up great opportunities, since the strengths of such systems lie where many humans have deficits, for example in the recognition of patterns and correlations in large datasets. Whether it be diagnosis in the field of health, optimising resources in the energy sector or improvements in the education system – the application of artificial intelligence has great potential. But what if some people are disadvantaged or physically harmed? Who is responsible for such actions, which are not directly carried out by humans? Those who selected and entered the data, those who programmed the algorithm, or those who did not monitor the system well enough?
Must we therefore rethink “responsibility” or does our existing understanding of it suffice for the new technical possibilities? What consequences must we draw from the current developments? The goal of the interdisciplinary research group is on the one hand to describe which challenges for responsibility in both an ethical and a legal sense arise from automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence in the digital era. On the other hand, specific recommendations will also be made for how in certain fields – for example medical diagnosis – we can engage well with the new technologies.
The research profile of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities is shaped by efforts to promote cultural heritage. It is the only Academy in Germany to pursue a large number of inter- and cross-disciplinary research projects on topics of future relevance. The Academy’s activities focus also on conducting research in the humanities, exploring future scientific and social issues on an interdisciplinary level, as well as promoting dialogue between science and society. 79 Nobel laureates have shaped the Academy’s history, which goes back to the Society of Sciences of the Elector of Brandenburg (Kurfürstlich Brandenburgische Sozietät der Wissenschaften). It was founded in 1700 by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716). From the very beginnings, this institution united the natural sciences and the humanities, which made it the prototype for many academies that followed.
As the Prussian Academy of Sciences (Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) the academy gained international recognition and fame. Many great names have left a mark on the Academy’s history of more than 300 years. They include the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, physicist Lise Meitner, scholar and ancient historian Theodor Mommsen, as well as physicists Albert Einstein and Max Planck.
Today the Academy is an interdisciplinary association of scholars with approximately 300 elected members – who are all outstanding representatives of their fields – and collaborates with scientists worldwide. With about 250 employees, it is currently the largest non-university research institution dedicated to the humanities in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. The Academy’s mission is to further the sciences and the humanities.
Time: 6pm-9pm
Date: November 4, 2019
Venue: Akademiegebäude am Gendarmenmarkt, Leibniz-Saal, Markgrafenstraße 38,
10117 Berlin