Artificial intelligence (AI) and other types of digital technologies are deeply intertwined with the everyday lives of citizens, yet their underlying conditions and consequences often remain invisible or difficult to grasp. Many people experience the digital transformation as inevitable and uncontrollable, as exemplified by the current public discourse around the “AI race” and generative AI technologies. Innovative approaches and methods are urgently needed to empower citizens to critically engage with digital transformation processes and imagine alternative futures. This workshop moves beyond traditional information dissemination and focuses on playful and artistic engagement methods, such as arts-based and future methods. These approaches foster experiential and creative explorations of AI and digital transformation, using photography, music, literary and poetic texts, diaries, comics and visual narratives, installations, or excursions. These methods are not aimed at conveying the current state of AI technology but rather at collaboratively defining future frameworks for action, governance, and regulation with civil society actors. Arts-based methods are particularly valuable as they allow participants to experience, explore and imagine alternative scenarios beyond the status quo and/or dominant narratives about how “the” future will unfold.
This workshop seeks to bring together researchers involved in such projects, practitioners, citizens, and other experts working in this field. The event aims to map real-time experiences and identify good practices and model initiatives for engaging with citizens, civil society organizations, community organizers, and public administrations around critical questions about AI and digital technologies.
The event is supported by the ARQUS University Alliance and the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD.
Conference Program
WELCOME
6:00 -7:30 pm
Venue: Schaubühne Lindenfels, Karl-Heine-Straße 50 (not barrier-free)
Screening: Data Shadows
Sabina Leonelli, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Jacob van der Beugel (Artist)
Plenary Panel: “(Re-)Imagining AI with and for the People”
Sara Morais dos Santos Bruss (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin), Jacob van der Beugel (Artist), Juliane Jarke (TU Graz), Rob Kitchin (Maynooth University). Moderation: Christian Pentzold (Leipzig University)
WELCOME and REGISTRATION
08:30-09:00 am
Venue: ScaDS.AI Living Lab, Löhrs Carré, Humboldtstrasse 2, 04105 Leipzig
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PANEL 1 WORKSHOPS
9:00 - 10:30 am
Exploring User-AI Relations: Participatory Methods for Creative Inquiry and Citizen Empowerment
Martina Skrubbeltrang Mahnke (Roskilde University, Denmark)
Sandra Simonsen (Aarhus University, Denmark)
The 2048 Protocol. Social Deduction Game
Kassie Headon (University of Surrey, UK)
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TEA & COFFEE
10:30 - 11:00 am
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PANEL 2 WORKSHOPS
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
StoryTrails 2.0
Helen Scarlett O’Neill (Royal Holloway, UK)
LLooM: A Participatory Textile Method for Mapping AI Interactions
Kimberley Paradis (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)
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LUNCH
12:30 - 1:30 pm
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PANEL 3 WORKSHOPS
01:30 - 3:00 pm
Interrogating Entangled Instruments
Steve Symons (University of Sussex, UK)
‘Amai!’: Empowering citizens as drivers of AI innovation, a practical approach and lessons learned
Neena Singh (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
Steve Bers (RVO Society)
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TEA & COFFEE
03:00 - 3:30 pm
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PANEL 4 PRESENTATIONS
03:30 - 4:30 pm
PRESENTATIONS
Thawing, Positionality, and Authentic Microcosm: Co-created Interactive Video and Situational Mapping in Discussions of Controversial AI Issues
Xiaoyu Hao (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Constant Washing Machine: Re-thinking responsible AI with embedded arts research and soap
Denis Newman-Griffis (University of Sheffield, UK)
Susan Oman (University of Sheffield, UK)
Hannah Redler Hawes (Curator)
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SCADS:AI LIVING LAB TOUR
04:40 - 05:30 pm
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DINNER (self-pay)
7:00 pm, Venue: Mala, Schulze-Delitzsch-Straße 19
Venue: ScaDS.AI Living Lab, Löhrs Carré, Humboldtstrasse 2, 04105 Leipzig
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PANEL 5 WORKSHOPS
8:30 - 10:00 am
A(I) Typewriter - Nostalgic Interface for Human-Chatbot Interaction
Karola Köpferl (TU Chemnitz, Germany)
Albrecht Kurze (TU Chemnitz, Germany)
Andreas Bischof (TU Chemnitz, Germany)
Nick Eichler (TU Chemnitz, Germany)
Techno-Enhancing Foresight – Co-, De-, and Re-construct futures through digital means
Wenzel Mehnert (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria)
Pia Weinlinger (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria)
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TEA & COFFEE
10:00 - 10:30 am
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PANEL 6 PRESENTATIONS & CONVERSATION
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
PRESENTATIONS
Live Action Role Playing Participatory Co-Design: Innovatove Methods for Alternative Digital Futures
Connal Parsely (Kent Law School, UK)
Conor Heaney (Kent Law School, UK)
Ruth Catlow (Furtherfield, UK)
Listening and Playing (with) AI: How Music Can Offer an Opportunity for Understanding and Engaging with AI
Federico Neresini (University of Padova, Italy)
Nicola Orio (University of Padova, Italy)
CONVERSATION
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Artistic explorations towards an un/common language for AI
Verena Friedrich (University of Arts Linz, Austria)
Benjamin Gerdes (Institute for Future Studies, Sweden)
Anne Kaun (Södertörn University, Sweden)
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LUNCH & FAREWELL
12:00 - 01:00 pm