Overview

⏱️ Schedule: Doors 18:30 → Talk 19:00 → Q&A → Mingle

🌐 Language: English

Artificial intelligence is being built into more and more parts of our lives. But while the technology is advancing at extraordinary speed, a more fundamental question often gets left behind: what kind of AI are we actually building – and who is it supposed to serve?

Behind today's AI boom are problems that cannot be solved simply by making models faster, smarter, or more efficient. The industry depends on enormous amounts of data, labour, energy, and natural resources. Responsibility for the harms of AI products is neglected by companies. And the priorities driving technological development do not necessarily align with the needs of society.

In this lecture, Dr. Theresa Züger will examine some of the structural problems behind AI development today – from extractivism and sustainability to responsibility and societal harm – before asking what it would mean to start again from a different premise.

Rather than looking for another technological quick fix, she will introduce the idea of AI in the public interest: an approach that asks us to evaluate technology according to the value it creates for society. What would change if we expected AI to serve human rights, sustainability, inclusion, and the common good? Who should get to define those goals? And are there already examples that point toward a different technological future?

This is not a lecture about fixing AI with a better algorithm. It is an invitation to rethink what we demand from technology in the first place.

What we'll cover

• What is going wrong with AI development today – from extractivism and environmental costs to responsibility and societal harm
• How we can begin thinking about alternative approaches to developing and evaluating AI
• What AI in the public interest means – and what changes when technology is expected to serve society rather than the other way around
• Where we can already find starting points and examples for building AI differently

Speaker

Dr. Theresa Züger

Head of Research, Societal Values, Transformation and AI – Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society

 Dr. Theresa Züger researches the intersection of artificial intelligence, society, and the public interest. At the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), she leads research on public interest AI, human rights, sustainability, and the societal impact of AI.