Category

Society and Communication

Category

Society and Communication

4. April 2024
Artificial Intelligence

Moraliser, plagiarism engine, miracle machine: How well do we know AI?

The breakneck speed at which artificial intelligence is developing makes it difficult to predict where it is heading. Our researchers say: Instead of getting ever bigger and faster, we should now take the time to really understand AI.
28. March 2024
Rudolphina Reads...

"Why AI Undermines Democracy" by Mark Coeckelbergh

How do we keep AI from disrupting the foundations of democracy? Mark Coeckelbergh, Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology at the University of Vienna, explores this question in his latest book. He argues that there is no need for doom-thinking and outlines possible solutions for richer participation in a functioning democracy.
6. March 2024
Technology Studies

Europe in the space race

Social scientist Nina Klimburg-Witjes examines the construction of the European launcher rocket Ariane 6 and asks: What role will Europe play in the new space age? Our video team met the researcher to learn more.
29. November 2023
Guest article by
Anne Sophie Meincke
Rudolphina Experts: The problem of free will

Free by Nature: The Biological Roots of Free Will

Whether our will is free is a question over which generations of philosophers have racked their brains. In this article, philosopher Anne Sophie Meincke explains the puzzling dilemma of free will and argues how biology can contribute to a solution.
24. October 2023
Guest article by
Linda Erker
Rudolphina Experts: History of the University

The University of Vienna in the period of Austrofascism

Historian Linda Erker is a researcher at the Department of Contemporary History of the University of Vienna. Her academic work focuses on the period of Austrofascism. In this guest article, she elaborates on the latest insights into the role of the University of Vienna in this significant stage of Austrian history.
4. October 2023
Guest article by
Christiane Wendehorst
Rudolphina Experts: Digitalisation

Protect Democracy, Regulate the Internet! But How?

Digital technologies have become integral to everyday life. But what threats does digitalisation pose to democracy? Digital law expert Christiane Wendehorst explains.
20. September 2023
AI ethics

Why we need global governance frameworks for artificial intelligence

An interdisciplinary body of experts, including three academics affiliated with the University of Vienna, supports Austria in the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Rudolphina asked them why AI governance requires a global approach and which possibilities and risks this entails.
24. May 2023
Presenting… Psychologist Jana Köhler

For a healthier planet: Climate activism must be rewarded

The current discussion around the climate protests show that the social perception of environmental activists is often very negative. With her research, Jana Köhler wants to help promote climate- and environmentally-friendly behaviour among the population.
23. May 2023
Society and History

Who deserves what? Making sense of inequalities during times of crisis

Do we deserve our gains and losses in the aftermath of social crises? In this guest post, University of Vienna social scientist Till Hilmar, author of "Deserved," draws important lessons from the lived experiences of post-1989 transformations.
16. February 2023
Environmental Health

When air becomes visible

Air pollution has been an issue for centuries, but during the COVID-19 pandemic humanity acutely and simultaneously recognised the physical presence of air. The research project "Air and Environmental Health in the (Post-)COVID-19 World" explores changing perceptions of air.
21. December 2022
Discriminating algorithms

"Nothing on the Internet is neutral"

Sandra Wachter is one of the leading researchers in the field of Internet and artificial intelligence. In our interview, the alumna of Law, who has been recently appointed Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, explains why it is so important to take a look behind the decisions of algorithms.
3. October 2022
Election campaigns on the Internet

How much algorithm can democracy take?

Democracy can only work if citizens are able to take informed decisions. But what happens if a news feed is so incredibly personalised that nobody really knows what is actually presented to us, and from whom. Sophie Lecheler and her team at the University of Vienna are using experiments and 'data donations' to see what users see – and to understand political discourse in times of digitalisation.
16. May 2022
Autism research

Every brain is different

Our society has clear ideas about how pro-social behaviour and empathy are to be expressed. But the research of neuroscientist Giorgia Silani shows that people with certain personality traits, such as autism or alexithymia, understand different forms of expression.
12. April 2022
Presenting... Sociologist Faime Alpagu

Migration Narratives

Migration shapes society: "In my research, I want to draw attention to the complexity of this phenomenon", says Faime Alpagu from the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences. Watch the video to find out more about her research project.
2. March 2022
Wolfgang Mueller about the war in Ukraine

"One of the largest invasions in Europe since the Second World War"

"Putin is obviously concerned with exterior aspirations to become a great power and with safeguarding his system internally,” says Wolfgang Mueller, expert in East European history.
9. February 2022
Carolina Plescia about Democracy

The meanings of voting

Many countries all over the world are facing democratic backsliding. Social scientist Carolina Plescia is taking a closer look at this phenomenon by investigating the meanings of voting.
11. November 2021
Demography

People decide to have children later in their life

A few decades ago most women had children in their 20s. Today, across the high-income countries, they tend to have children in their 30s. The demographer Eva Beaujouan investigates the challenges and the changes that low-fertility countries are facing.
15. July 2021
Presenting... Sociologist Jana Laura Egelhofer

The Fake News Debate and its Consequences

Fake or not fake: Jana Laura Egelhofer is a doctoral candidate at the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (ViDSS) and analyses the content and consequences of the fake news debate. In this video, she gives insights into her highly topical and socially relevant research.