Jason Branford

Generative AI and Democratic Culture - Philosophy & Technology The purported threats that the algorithmic creation, ordering, and manipulation of information in the digital sphere may pose to democracy have received considerable academic attention in recent years...

New paper (with Eloïse Soulier and Laura Fichtner) on Generative AI and Democratic Culture. Using Dewey’s notion of democracy as a “way of life”, we explore how mundane AI use might undermine important aspects of democracy (and perpetuate epistemic injustices).

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

TAMING THE MACHINES in Summer 25

Our final Taming The Machines lecture for this semester will be given by Prof. Jessica Heesen on “The human in artificial intelligence: Ethical perspectives on chatbots and deepfakes”

📆 8 July 2025
⏰ 18:15 - 19:45

Hybrid event! All welcome!

Registration ➡️ www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/e...

TAMING THE MACHINES in Summer 25

We kickstart this semester’s Taming The Machines lecture series by welcoming Prof. Gloria Origgi (@origgi.bsky.social), to deliver her lecture on “Misinformation”.

📆 3 June 2025
⏰ 18:15 - 19:45

Hybrid event! All welcome!

Registration ➡️ www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/e...

Talkspace’s exploitation of teens’ mental health data is appalling. But so on brand for these companies. Most are not remotely covered by hipaa. If you trust anything about them - trust that they will share user data.

Every. Single. Time.

I've built a machine that can be Confidently Wrong. It can also make pictures that all look a bit the same, as well as make a video of you kissing any celebrity or person you know. In payment, I'd like to boil the world's oceans dry, & steal all literature. For some reason, my head is not on a spike

For our final Taming The Machines lecture this semester, we are happy to host Prof. Ibo van de Poel (Delft), who will speak about “A Fallibilist Approach to AI Value Alignment”.

Please join us (hybrid event):
📆 27 January
⏰ 18:15 - 19:45

Registration ➡️ www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/e...

TAMING THE MACHINES in Winter 24/25

Happy to announce that Prof. Elena Esposito (Bielefeld/Bologna)) will give the next Taming The Machines lecture entitled “The Future of Prediction: Algorithmic Forecast in Science and Society”.

Hybrid event
📆 20 January
⏰ 18:15 - 19:45

Registration ➡️ www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/e...

Time to confront the question: why are people like me so hostile to AI hype? Apart from the obvious reasons, we believe our roles in life are built on intelligence and creativity and seeing our output stolen to create something inferior but cheaper than us, to profit billionaires, is soul destroying

Many thanks @lstoetze.bsky.social for the invitation to present at the PPE Speakers series at University Witten/Herdecke today. It was a great discussion on how Dewey’s notion of democracy can critically inform recent debates on artificial intelligence.

WOinActie WOinActie is een beweging van studenten en medewerkers en maakt zich sterk voor de universiteit en haar toekomst.

I hope that many people will join the local actions today to stop the massive budget cuts which will have a very negative impact on eduction in the regions and the Netherlands. In #Enschede the meeting starts at 13:00 at the municipality. #stopdebezuinigingen More info: woinactie.blogspot.com?m=1

My 3-year old challenging Zeno this morning. It’s December 6 so St. Nikolaus brought him a chocolate. He tells me he will eat half today. And then half of what’s left tomorrow. And so on. Found an infinity chocolate hack.

TAMING THE MACHINES in Winter 24/25

Excited to announce that Prof. Kate Vredenburgh (LSE) will give the next Taming The Machines lectures @uni-hamburg.de entitled “AI and the Future of Work”

Hybrid event
📆 9 December
⏰ 18:15 - 19:45

Registration ➡️ www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/e...

Wonderful lecture and talk with Philipp Hacker on the EU AI act and other EU legislation and the possibility of taking seriously sustainability concerns through transparency measures.
💪 Great to have someone like him petitioning the EU.
🎥 Recording will be online soon.

TAMING THE MACHINES in Winter 24/25

Prof. Philipp Hacker will be giving the next Taming The Machines lecture @uni-hamburg.de on “Frontier AI Regulation: From Trustworthiness to Sustainability”.

Please join us in-person or online
📆 2 December
⏰ 18:15 - 19:45 (CET)

Register ➡️ www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/en/inst/ab/e...