Invited Speakers

Gry Hasselbalch
DataEthics.eu

Julian Nida-Rümelin
LMU München

Hannes Werthner
TU Wien

Human Power - A Politics for the AI Machine Age

The rapid and tumultuous introduction of AI into our everyday lives has triggered a self-exploratory public debate about what it means to be human. What are our human potential, talents, and powers – what essentially is our place in the modern world? Are we nothing but outdated machines in dire need of a technological fix?

The keynote is based on the book Human Power - Seven Traits for the Politics of the AI Machine Age (CRC Press, 2025) and reflects on the shifting power dynamics between humans and the AI-powered technologies and their industrial complexes increasingly shaping our world. Exploring the distinctiveness of human power, it argues for a new foundation of the politics that is needed in the AI Machine Age.

Gry Hasselbalch

Gry Hasselbalch is a Danish author of several impactful books, tech critic and scholar working on data/AI ethics, human rights and politics. Through two decades, she has participated in global discussions on internet governance, digitalisation, AI and data in various positions with contributions in policy, academia, and public speaking. In her work she promotes a humanistic approach to AI and data, highlighting the critical role of humanity in navigating the challenges posed by these technologies.

Julian Nida-Rümelin

Julian Nida-Rümelin is professor of philosophy and political theory at the University of Munich (LMU). He studied physics, mathematics, philosophy and political science, he has a PhD and habilitation in philosophy. He was president of the German Philosophical Association and stateminister for culture in the national german government under chancellor Gerhard Schröder. His main fields of research are theory of rationality, ethics, and political philosophy.

The Role of Computer Science in the Age of AI (or Digital Humanism?)

Developments in the field of sub-symbolic AI, which are no longer quite so new, continue to surprise us with new insights and results. It is no longer just about text generation and automatic real-time translation (which was very difficult or even impossible in the past), but now problems at doctoral level are already being solved or it is even targeting NP-complete problems such as the SAT problem (with the results surpassing those developed by humans who won the competitions). In this context it is also interesting to note that AI as a field is inherently undefined, highlighting the absence of a universally accepted definition and the resulting ambiguity in what should or should not be classified as artificial intelligence.

The potential is enormous, but it also raises massive social issues (energy, economic concentration, even the question of “What is humanity and its role?”). As never before, computer science is now at the center of public discussion – right up to the political level of geopolitics and global regulation. What does this mean for computer science, which pragmatically focuses on problem solving – and on a theoretical level (based on formal models) on correctness, certainty and provability – this is now being replaced by uncertain statements based on probability.

At the same time, there are immense implications where interaction with (or even integration of methods from) the social and human sciences is required, almost as if it were becoming a social science itself. Computer science is thus challenged methodologically from “inside” and “outside” by its implications.

How should we deal with this situation? Does digital humanism provide a framework?

Hannes Werthner

Hannes Werthner is a retired Professor for E-Commerce at the Faculty of Informatics, TU Wien. Prior to joining TU Wien, he had several professorships at Austrian and international Universities. His research is in several fields such as Decision Support Systems, E-Commerce, E-Tourism, Recommender Systems, and lately in Network Analysis and Text Mining. Besides research and teaching he is active in starting new initiatives, such as the Vienna PhD School of Informatics and the i2c (Informatics Innovation Center). In the area of E-Tourism, the International Federation for IT and Tourism (IFITT) grants the “Hannes Werthner Tourism and Technology Lifetime Achievement Award” to outstanding academics and/or professionals in the field.