[rohrpost] Artificial Intelligence, Art and Nature - conference at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW), Nov 4, 2019

[Ingeborg Reichle]

AI, Art and Nature

Conference

Berlin, November 4, 2019

The conference AI, Art and Nature at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of
Sciences and Humanities in Berlin 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? With Thomas Bächle (Humboldt Institut für
Internet und Gesellschaft Berlin), Anna Dumitriu (Artist, Brighton),
Nausikaä El-Mecky (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona), Peter Freund
(Artist, Universitat de Barcelona), Adam Harvey (Artist, Berlin/New
York), Alex May (Artist, Brighton), and Ingeborg Reichle (Universität
für angewandte Kunst Wien).

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.

Time: 6pm-9pm
Date: November 4, 2019
Venue: Akademiegebäude am Gendarmenmarkt, Leibniz-Saal,
Markgrafenstraße 38, 10117 Berlin
www.bbaw.de