Current Topics
Table of contents
The new large language models – ChatGPT and beyond
The large language model ChatGPT has shifted public focus toward artificial intelligence (AI). The chatbot is part of a new generation of AI systems. ChatGPT composes texts, generates images and videos, and programs code. The possible uses for large language models are manifold – in the corporate world, in medicine, in media and more. But what technological advancements do they promise? What potential do they hold for education, industry, science and society? And what ethical and legal challenges does their use entail?
A number of researchers at TU Dresden are currently searching for the answers to these questions and are also available to journalists and other media professionals as points of contact.
Prof. Anne Lauber-Rönsberg
Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property, Media and Data Protection Law; Director of the Institute of International Law, Intellectual Property and Technology Law; Member of Lernende Systeme – Germany’s platform for artificial intelligence (https://www.plattform-lernende-systeme.de/home-en.html)
Key focus areas:
- Copyright and data protection
- Liability law and AI regulations, incl.: Who do AI products belong to? What stipulations apply to the use of content for AI training purposes? Does AI violate data protection laws? Who is liable for incorrect statements issued by ChatGPT?
- ChatGPT and AI Act
Prof. Alfred Benedikt Brendel
Chair of Business Information Systems, esp. Intelligent Systems and Services
Key focus areas:
- Human-machine interaction
- Anthropomorphism
- Error management
- Digital services
- Hybrid intelligence
Prof. Birte Platow
Protestant Theology with a focus on Religious Education, Member of the Management Board of ScaDS.AI and Area Lead of the Responsible AI research area at ScaDS.AI
Key focus areas:
- Ethical aspects
- AI and education
- Human-AI interaction
Prof. Alexander Lasch
Chair of Linguistics and History of German
Dean of Studies of the Digital Humanities Master’s degree program
Key focus areas:
- Linguistic knowledge engineering
- Machine analysis
- Implementation of text generators in a university education context
Prof. Simon Meier-Vieracker
Chair of Applied Linguistics
Key focus areas:
- Linguistic foundations and functionality of ChatGPT
Prof. Lars Bernard
Chief Digitalization and Information Management Officer of TU Dresden
Key focus areas:
- General strategic issues surrounding the use of AI in an academic setting
Prof. emeritus Bernhard Irrgang
Chair of Philosophy of Technology (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science), consulting services for the Federal Ministry of Education and Research on AI and VR 2018/2021
Website: http://bernhard-irrgang.eu
Tel.: +49 351- 2683282
Key focus areas:
- Designation of the scientific nature of AI and problems with its integration in society (in the field of applied ethics)
- Deep learning
- Neuronal networks
- Application of AI in robotics, biomedicine and molecular biology
- Philosophical issues surrounding the explainability of algorithms, including ChatGPT
On April 26, 2023, TU Dresden’s Extended University Executive Board joined forces with the Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Sciences (CIDS) and the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) to host an informational event focused on methods of working with these systems. A recording of the event (in German) is available on TU Dresden’s YouTube channel.
War in Ukraine
For a report on the current situation in Ukraine, there are numerous experts at the TU Dresden who are at your disposal with expertise in political science, but also in cultural studies and, in some cases, many years of experience in research on Eastern Europe.
Prof. Dr. Dominik Steiger
Professor of International Law, European Law and Public Law
Scientific Director of the Center for International Studies
Areas of specialization include:
- Public international and European law
- Law of the United Nations
- International protection of human rights
- international business law
- German and foreign constitutional law
Prof. Dr. Klavdia Smola
Professor of Slavic Literary Studies
Areas of specialization include:
- Russian, Polish, Czech and Ukrainian culture as well as cultures of Eastern European minorities
- Alternative and dissident art and literature
- Border phenomena and transfer processes in literature, culture and science
Prof. Dr. Holger Kuße
Professor of Slavic Language History and Linguistics
Areas of specialization include:
- Studies of discourse (esp. Russian philosophical discourse, political and religious discourse, and advertising in Slavia)
- Linguistic theory (esp. on the relationship between semantics and pragmatics)
- Cultural studies linguistics, discourse and argumentation linguistics, semantics and pragmalinguistics of contemporary Slavic languages
Prof. Dr. Anna Holzscheiter
Professor of Political Science with a focus on international politics
Areas of specialization include:
- Emergence, impact and change of international organizations
- Relations between (inter)state and societal actors in international politics
- Creation and contestation of norms from the perspective of language and discourse analytical approaches in international relations
JProf. Dr. Tim Buchen
BKM Junior Professor for Social and Economic Networks of Germans in Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th Century
Areas of specialization include:
- German-Eastern European interconnections
- Jewish history
- history of (German) imperialism in Eastern Europe
- migration and settlement policy
- history of minorities
Prof. Dr. Marianne Kneuer
Professor of Political Systems and Comparative Politics
Areas of specialization include:
- Functional logics of democracies and autocracies
- democratic and autocratic transformation
- external factors (promotion and diffusion) of democratization and autocratization
- foreign policy of autocratic regimes
- legitimation strategies of autocracies
- Impact of digitalization on political processes: e-democracy, e-participation and e-government
Dr. Matthäus Wehowski
Research Associate at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies
Areas of specialization include:
- Ukrainian history and culture of memory (see current publication)
- comparative history of East Central Europe
- nationalism and religion
- media history
- history of the Cold War
- history of transformation
Marta Kozłowska, M.A.
Research Associate at MIDEM (Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy)
Areas of specialization include:
- Migration and Flight in Poland
- Migration discourses
- Central Eastern Europe/Visegrád Group
- Polish politics
- social integration and solidarity
Expert Opinions on the Discussion about the Planned Abolition of Article 219a
Article 219a of the German Criminal Code prohibits “offering, announcing or promoting abortions”. This primarily affects physicians who wish to provide information about whether and how they perform abortions. Until now, the mere publication of this information has made them liable to prosecution.
A draft bill from the Ministry of Justice now argues for the abolition of article 219a and once again moved the debate about the legal regulation of abortions into the public focus. By abolishing the paragraph, the federal government would fulfill one of the promises it made in the coalition agreement.
At the same time, this debate is also fueling the debate about article 218 of the German Criminal Code. Article 218 makes abortion itself a punishable offense, unless the conditions of impunity explained in article 218a are met.
In the debate about both articles, philosophical, historical, political and, last but not least, medical lines of argumentation collide and paint a complex picture of the situation. The following experts from the TU Dresden will provide information on the topic with their expertise:
Prof. Dr. Nikita Dhawan
Professor of Political Science with a focus on political theory and the history of thought
Fields of expertise:
- postcolonial-queer-feminist history of ideas
- global justice
- Human Rights
Prof. Dr. Dagmar Ellerbrock
Professor of Modern and Contemporary History
Fields of expertise:
- gender history
- body history
- violence and emotion
- social history
- european and transnational history
- intentional non-knowledge and transformation processes
- history of emotions
Prof. Dr. Tamara Jugov
Professor of Practical Philosophy
Fields of expertise:
- analytical political philosophy and social philosophy, esp.
- social and global justice
- theories of power and domination critique
- questions of feminist philosophy