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Promises and Myths of Artificial Intelligence
Full text linkThe development dynamics of any new technology are usually associated with promises of its special performance and completely new application possibilities. This is especially true for artificial intelligence (AI), prompting this contribution to inquire into which particular special features the technology promises. However, the imprecise rhetoric of that promise becomes apparent. Although it appears simple, clear, and convincing, it is fundamentally difficult to dispute and introduces multitudes of ambiguity, relying on fuzzy conceptual metaphors, very unspecific assessments, implicit misconceptions, technological determinism, and exaggerations of the future opportunities AI offers for economic and social progress. Ultimately, the promises of AI nourish their lasting persuasive power with notions from the old myth of the intelligent machine.The Weizenbaum Institute is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF
Search engines in polarized media environment: Auditing political information curation on Google and Bing prior to 2024 US elections
Full text linkSearch engines play an important role in the context of modern elections. By curating information in response to user queries, search engines influence how individuals are informed about election-related developments and perceive the media environment in which elections take place. It has particular implications for (perceived) polarization, especially if search engines' curation results in a skewed treatment of information sources based on their political leaning. Until now, however, it is unclear whether such a partisan gap emerges through information curation on search engines and what user- and system-side factors affect it. To address this shortcoming, we audit the two largest Western search engines, Google and Bing, prior to the 2024 US presidential elections and examine how these search engines' organic search results and additional interface elements represent election-related information depending on the queries' slant, user location, and time when the search was conducted. Our findings indicate that both search engines tend to prioritize left-leaning media sources, with the exact scope of search results' ideological slant varying between Democrat- and Republican-focused queries. We also observe limited effects of location- and time-based factors on organic search results, whereas results for additional interface elements were more volatile over time and specific US states. Together, our observations highlight that search engines' information curation actively mirrors the partisan divides present in the US media environments and has the potential to contribute to (perceived) polarization within these environments
In Palantir we trust? Regulation of data analysis platforms in public security
Full text linkOrganizations increasingly rely on digital technologies to perform tasks. To do so, they have to integrate data banks to make the data usable. We argue that there is a growing, academically underexplored market consisting of data integration and analysis platforms. We explain that, especially in the public sector, the regulatory implications of data integration and analysis must be studied because they affect vulnerable citizens and because it is not just a matter of state agencies overseeing technology companies but also of the state overseeing itself. We propose a platform-theory-based conceptual approach that directs our attention towards the specific characteristics of platforms—such as datafication, modularity, and multilaterality and the associated regulatory challenges. Due to a scarcity of empirical analyses about how public sector platforms are regulated, we undertake an in-depth case study of a data integration and analysis platform operated by Palantir Technologies in the German federal state of Hesse. Our analysis of the regulatory activities and conflicts uncovers many obstacles to effective platform regulation. Drawing on recent initiatives to improve intermediary liability, we ultimately point to additional paths for regulating public sector platforms. Our findings also highlight the importance of political factors in platform regulation-as-a-practice. We conclude that platform regulation in the public sector is not only about technology-specific regulation but also about general mechanisms of democratic control, such as the separation of power, public transparency, and civil rights.This work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society) and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 833749). We also acknowledge support for the publication costs by the Open Access Publication Fund of Bielefeld University and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
How journalism adapted the Internet in Germany: Results of six newsroom surveys (1997–2014)
Full text linkBased on six newsroom surveys, this article analyzes the history of digital German journalism. The surveys cover a period of 17 years (1997–2014). Periodizing the history of digital journalism into three phases, this article considers the interplay between journalism and journalism research. The results show how journalistic digital media define their role in the relationships between old media and the Internet, digital media and other outlets, and digital media and their audiences. Furthermore, the results substantiate how digital editorial staff define their journalistic identities regarding tasks, rules, and skills. During the first period (surveys conducted in 1997 and 2000), the view from old mass media to the Internet dominated, also in scholarship where the mass media paradigm was extended to the Internet. The second period (surveys conducted in 2006 and 2007) was characterized by clarifying the relationships between journalism and newly emerged outlets. These studies focused on how participative formats (such as Wikipedia and blogs) and search engines could be used for journalistic purposes without compromising quality. These new outlets were not regarded then as much of a threat. This attitude did not change during the third period (surveys conducted in 2010 and 2014). In this phase, too, the studies focused on how editorial staff utilized the ever-increasing number of social media. The six surveys’ different research interests reveal that the reviewed journalism research primarily addressed changing demands in journalistic practice. Therefore, exogenous factors (“the sector”) had a greater impact than endogenous factors (the “scholarship”) on research interests
Polarization and Networked Framing: The Syrian and Ukrainian Refugee Crises on X/Twitter
No full textThis exploratory study adopts a mixed-methods approach to examine the dynamics of political communication during refugee crises in German-language X (formerly Twitter), focusing on the Syrian and Ukrainian refugee influxes of September 2015 and March 2022. Using the X API, we collected 551,873 tweets related to the Syrian crisis and 236,034 tweets related to the Ukrainian crisis. The retweet networks associated with both crises were segmented into attitudinal communities by labeling them based on their position toward refugees. These networks were analyzed for polarization, community interactions and activity, influential users, and the dynamic networked framing of the crises. Our social network analysis highlighted that the online anti-refugee community exhibited greater dynamism despite being smaller in size than the pro-refugee community. Elite news media saw a decline in influence, highlighting the lack of intermediary sources between polarized users. While overall networked framing was positive about refugees during both crises, the framing of Ukrainian refugees was more complex and multifaceted. Our results underscore the disrupted state of public discourse on controversial topics and the need to reduce destructive polarization on social media.The Weizenbaum Institute is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF
Articulation Work and Tinkering for Fairness in Machine Learning
Full text linkThe field of fair AI aims to counter biased algorithms through computational modelling. However, it faces increasing criticism for perpetuating the use of overly technical and reductionist methods. As a result, novel approaches appear in the field to address more socially-oriented and interdisciplinary (SOI) perspectives on fair AI. In this paper, we take this dynamic as the starting point to study the tension between computer science (CS) and SOI research. By drawing on STS and CSCW theory, we position fair AI research as a matter of 'organizational alignment': what makes research 'doable' is the successful alignment of three levels of work organization (the social world, the laboratory, and the experiment). Based on qualitative interviews with CS researchers, we analyze the tasks, resources, and actors required for doable research in the case of fair AI. We find that CS researchers engage with SOI research to some extent, but organizational conditions, articulation work, and ambiguities of the social world constrain the doability of SOI research for them. Based on our findings, we identify and discuss problems for aligning CS and SOI as fair AI continues to evolve
A Common Effort: New Divisions of Labor Between Journalism and OSINT Communities on Digital Platforms
Full text linkThis article explores the interactions between journalistic actors and emerging open-source intelligence and investigation (OSINT) communities. It employs qualitative content analysis of discourse from two OSINT communities surrounding three events following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which received substantial coverage in news media. OSINT practices are rapidly becoming a mainstay of the contemporary political process by allowing ordinary citizens to verify information shared through digital platforms, which is traditionally the societal task assigned to journalism. In doing so, they provide a timely factual baseline for opinion formation and political decision-making. This research explores the role constellations resulting from this shift in verification duties from journalistic actors to amateur online communities on digital platforms and maps the fundamental dynamics involved in OSINT. We analyze how information is received and processed in OSINT communities, how digital platforms facilitate the fact-checking process, and how journalism and OSINT interact. Based on our findings, we develop a theoretical framework that distinguishes between the input, throughput, and output phases of OSINT. Our model contributes to a baseline understanding of the crucial and novel partnership between citizens and journalists on digital platforms
Weizenbaum Panel’s Literature Digest: May 2024
Full text linkDer Literatur Digest ist eine monatlich erscheinende Zusammenstellung des aktuellen Forschungsstandes zu Themen an der Schnittstelle zwischen Digitalisierung und Politik. Er präsentiert die neuesten Erkenntnisse zu Fragen der politischen Partizipation und guter Bürgerschaft in Zeiten der Digitalisierung.The Literature Digest is a monthly compilation of the current state of research on topics at the nexus of digitalization and politics. It presents the latest findings on issues of political participation and good citizenship in times of digitalization
Generating impactful situated explanations through digital trace data
Full text linkProgressively, information systems (IS) researchers draw on digital trace data to capture the emergent dynamics of today’s digitalized world. Digital trace data enable researchers to generate highly context-specific insights into the features and dynamics of socio-technical phenomena. We suggest how IS researchers can use digital trace data to develop situated explanations, that is, explanations that capture the idiosyncratic features of real-world problems in order to generate impactful solutions to these problems. We outline five key principles to build situated explanations based on digital trace data. We make several suggestions on how the information system field can adjust its research and publication practices to embrace the development and dissemination of situated explanations
Algorithmic media use and algorithm literacy: An integrative literature review
Full text linkAlgorithms profoundly shape user experiences on digital platforms, raising concerns about their negative impacts and highlighting the importance of algorithm literacy. Research on individuals’ understanding of algorithms and their effects is expanding rapidly but lacks a cohesive framework. We conducted a systematic integrative literature review across social sciences and humanities (n = 169), addressing algorithm literacy in terms of its key conceptualizations and the endogenous, exogenous, and personal factors that influence it. We argue that existing research can be framed in terms of experiential learning cycles and outline how this approach can be beneficial for acquiring algorithm literacy. Finally, we propose a future research agenda that includes defining core competencies relevant to algorithm literacy, standardization of measures, integrating subjective and factual aspects of algorithm literacy, and task- and domain-specific approaches