Project

Orientation towards the common good in the digital age: Transformation narratives between planetary boundaries and artificial intelligence

In the project "Orientation towards the common good in the digital age: Transformation narratives between planetary boundaries and artificial intelligence", the Competence Center Foresight of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) and the Ethics Center of the University of Tübingen (IZEW) analyzed and developed anthropological and ethical concepts with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, and based on this, created new entrances into transformation narratives. The basis was a critical stocktaking of the body of knowledge on developments and effects of artificial intelligence. The focus has been on selected fields of application of artificial intelligence that could fundamentally change current relationships between humans, technology and the environment (disruptive applications). This project is part of the preliminary research of the German Federal Office for Environment (Umweltbundesamt).

By developing "storyboards," simple illustrated stories about the future, we have created new entry points into transformation narratives in the project that can be picked up and retold by interested parties. Topics include: 

  1.  Affective Computing in Education
  2.  Autonomous systems in the deep sea

You can view the two storyboards at your own pace by following this link: Storytelling.

The results of the project have been published in the series UBA-Texte and can be downloaded here: final report.

Sub-goals and research contents of the project were:

  • to identify and characterize fields of digitalization that can accompany fundamental disruptive changes in human-technology-environment relationships (screening),
  • to critically review disruptive digital technology narratives, to analyze and extend perspectives of environmental ethics, especially relating to artificial intelligence (ethical ways of thinking)
  • to enter into new transformation narratives that consider disruptive digital technologies (storyboards)

An inter- and transdisciplinary advisory board supported the project. The project ran from November 2018 to November 2021.

Duration

11/2018 – 11/2021

Client

Umweltbundesamt (UBA)

Partner

  • Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Internationales Zentrum für Ethik in den Wissenschaften (IZEW)
  • Stefanie Saghri (Animation and illustration)