From September 28-29th, 2023 alumni of Freie Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, the Weizenbaum Institute and affiliated institutions met for a two-day symposium in New York City. The topic was the current debate about artificial intelligence and the critical approach to it - following the tradition of Joseph Weizenbaum, the German-American pioneer who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. Researchers, business representatives and critical audience discussed various aspects of artificial intelligence and human-machine interactions at the German House at New York University. What is the role of humans in artificial intelligence, what is the role of algorithms in digital societies? How can these algorithms and rankings distort information? And what about regulation, to what extent is the landscape already determined by a few players in Silicon Valley who set the digital pace and tend to pursue economic interests? The discussions and insights of the first day were rounded off by a keynote by Sarah Sharma, who presented a media-theoretical techno-feminist perspective.

The second day focused on the person of Joseph Weizenbaum, his life and career, including his emigration to the USA, his integration into the Jewish community, his most important achievements, including his chatbot Eliza, the forerunner of modern chatbots and artificial intelligence, as well as Weizenbaum’s early critical stance and admonition for self-determination in dealing with digital technologies. The event was rounded off by a lecture and city tour on Jewish life in New York with a focus on German-Jewish emigration in the years 1933-1945 and sites of Jewish life in Greenwich Village surrounding New York University. This concluded two days of immersion into the topic of artificial intelligence - of insights, challenges, questions, and appeals; two days of networking, getting to know each other, and staying connected with North American alumni in the heart of New York City.

TU Alumnus Cy Yavuzturk and FU Alumna Jenifer Cushman were among the participants of the symposium. We asked them both: “In light of the rapid development in the field of AI, it is important - in the sense of Josef Weizenbaum - to take a critical look at the technology. Where do you see the major challenges regarding AI for the future in your work context? And what impulses did the seminar give you?”

„The symposium allowed me to expand my horizon in regards to my understanding of artificial intelligence and provided me with new perspectives in my own profession. The rapid advancement of automation in the 20th century, specifically in engineering, significantly increased the efficiency in the production and delivery of goods and services. The 21st century with the further advent of computing technologies introduced to the profession of engineering algorithmic tools based on artificial intelligence, allowing the efficiency improvements to reach a much higher level. Nevertheless, engineering design involves much more than finding purely technical solutions as there are ethical, societal, and environmental dimensions as well.“

Prof. Dr. Cy Yavuzturk, University of Hartford, TU-Alumnus, Energy and process engineering

„With a decades-long history of providing educational access through distance courses, the University of Maine at Augusta embraces twenty-first-century instructional modes.  At the same time, we are challenged to consider all implications of the technologies we employ and teach in this ever more quickly evolving landscape.  With its fascinating overview of Weizenbaum's life and philosophy, coupled with its thought-provoking sessions, the AI Symposium has helped me take a step back and consider some of the deeper ethical questions surrounding our employment of digital tools.”

Dr. Jenifer Cushman, President of University of Maine at Augusta, Alumna of Freie Universität, German studies