Books

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://www.weizenbaum-library.de/handle/id/1113

Collection of Books, Edited Volumes, Theses, Reports

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 30
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    On Knowledge in AI: Epistemic and Ethical Limitations of Language Models and Knowledge Graphs
    (2025-11) Kraft, Angelie
    This thesis critically investigates whether or not AI-based knowledge technology built on language models, knowledge graphs, and/or knowledge-enhanced language models deserves the epistemic authority it happens to receive and analyzes its epistemic and ethical "goodness". To this end, this thesis utilizes computer science approaches and philosophical analysis and discusses technical features, as well as engineering and research practices in the field of AI by drawing from feminist epistemological accounts, in particular. The core of this cumulative dissertation comprises three articles that address the following sets of questions: (RQ1) What types of social bias are embedded in knowledge graphs? How are they measured? And what do we know about their causes? (RQ2) Can knowledge enhancement make language models less biased with regards to their knowledge content? Can it help to make language models more objective? (RQ3) How are the measures created that are used to determine a language model's accuracy in reproducing knowledge? How is the quality and representativeness of these measures? This thesis finds that AI-based knowledge technology has several epistemically and ethically problematic characteristics, which cannot be solved solely through technological means. AI development and evaluation must be conducted in a contextualized manner and account for the situatedness of knowledge processes. In drawing from feminist epistemologies, this thesis argues that the AI community must promote emancipatory values and foreground marginalized standpoints to facilitate epistemically and ethically better systems.
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    Spatial Conflicts and Conflictual Spaces. The Dynamics of Refiguration
    (2025) Knoblauch, Hubert; Sommer, Vivien; Pfetsch, Barbara
    This volume explores the refiguration of space as a theoretical framework, presenting empirical studies on spatial conflicts and emerging conflictual spaces across different regions and scales. It contains contributions which follow varied theoretical threads and represent different geospatial standpoints, but which relate to the thesis of the refiguration of space as a new phase after globalization. By adopting a spatial lens, the book offers insights into the dynamics of social order in the post-globalization era, examining how conflicts arise within space and how spatial dynamics shape social tensions. The chapters unpack the interplay between human aspirations and geographical limitations and use the concept of (re)figuration to underline the trans-scalar dimension of most social conflicts, which is massively expanded by digital mediatization, public communication and its refigured infrastructures. While emphasizing the empirical analysis of conflicts in space, the edited volume also seeks to identify general principles of the spatial dynamics of social conflicts. It is this "spatial logic" underlying conflictual situations that the book addresses with the term "spatial conflicts."
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    Die Finanzierung von Desinformation
    (Springer VS, 2025) Gsenger, Rita
    Desinformation und Verschwörungstheorien haben in den letzten Jahren deutlich Aufschwung erhalten, da ihre Verbreitung in den sozialen Medien und anderen Online Plattformen sehr schnell und effektiv sein kann. In zurückliegenden Jahren hat die Europäische Union einige neue Gesetzesgrundlagen geschaffen, die diese Entwicklung eindämmen sollen. Dennoch hat sich ein lukrativer Markt rund um das Verbreiten von Halb- und Unwahrheiten entwickelt. Dies kann negative Konsequenzen für Einzelne und die Gesellschaft mit sich bringen, das zeigen beispielsweise Gewalttaten wie Pizzagate, oder auch die Weigerung sich impfen zu lassen oder Maske zu tragen. Ein weiteres Problem stellt die zunehmende und weltweit verbreitete russische Propaganda dar, insbesondere seit der Eskalation des Ukraine Konflikts. Der Open-Access-Band stellt die relevantesten Akteure vor, die von der Verbreitung von Desinformation profitieren: die Influencer:innen, Plattformen, Werbeträger und Zahlungsdienstleister. Dabei lässt sich mit Beispielen aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum zeigen, welche Geschäftsmodelle sich hinter der Monetarisierung verbergen, wie effektiv diese sein können und ob es Möglichkeiten der Eindämmung von Desinformation gibt, indem Finanzierungsmöglichkeiten eingeschränkt werden.
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    Search engines in polarized media environment: Auditing political information curation on Google and Bing prior to 2024 US elections
    (2025) Makhortykh, Mykola; Rorhbach, Tobias; Sydorova, Maryna; Kuznetsova, Elizaveta
    Search 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.
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    Who trains the Data for European Artificial Intelligence?
    (2024) Miceli, Milagros; Tubaro, Paola; Casilli, Antonio; Le Bonniec, Thomas; Salim Wagner, Camilla; Sachenbacher, Laurenz
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    A study on tacit knowledge – Development of a theoretical knowledge model and its instantiation in Virtual RealityZum Erkenntnisgegenstand des stillschweigenden Wissens – Erarbeitung eines lerntheoretischen Wissensmodells und dessen Instanziierung im virtuellen Raum
    (2024) Teichmann, Malte Rolf
    The present dissertation examines the subject of tacit knowledge, a topic of significant relevance in the fields of business knowledge management, information systems, and information system science. Starting with a critical in-depth analysis of the foundational works of Michael Polanyi and Ikujirō Nonaka & Hirotaka Takeuchi, the research process aims to develop an understanding of tacit knowledge that is decoupled from metaphysical perspectives and to provide explanations for its formation supported by learning theories. Embracing the potentials of digital (learning) technologies, a virtual reality-based learning environment is also created, which can contribute to the acquisition of tacit knowledge. Using the Design Science Research Method (DSRM), the work pursues two design goals: the development of a learning-theoretical knowledge model to explain the formation of tacit knowledge and the development of a virtual reality-based learning environment to acquire tacit knowledge.
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    Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelten: Zur Erfassbarkeit einer systemischen Transformation
    (Springer Fachmedien, 2024) Pfeiffer, Sabine; Nicklich, Manuel; Henke, Michael; Heßler, Martina; Krzywdzinski, Martin; Schulz-Schaeffer, Ingo
    Diese Open Access Publikation bündelt Ergebnisse aus der ersten Förderphase des interdisziplinären DFG-Schwerpunktprogramms 2267 „Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelten“. Digitalisierung verändert Arbeit mit vielfältigen Konsequenzen für Arbeit(smarkt) und Qualifizierung. Wie dramatisch und grundsätzlich diese Veränderungen sind, wird seit Jahren kontrovers diskutiert und anwendungsbezogen erforscht. Das Schwerpunktprogramm nimmt die Veränderung der Arbeitsgesellschaft als Ganzes in den Blick – Geschichts-, Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften analysieren die vielschichtigen und widersprüchlichen Dynamiken als eine systemische Transformation. Leitend ist dabei die These von drei Bewegungsdynamiken: die Durchdringung (z.B. von digitalen Arbeitsprozessen), die Verfügbarmachung (z.B. von Daten über einzelne Arbeitshandlungen) und die Verselbständigung (z.B. von datengetriebenen Wertschöpfungsketten). Methodische Reflexionen zu Erfassbarkeit der Transformation runden den Band ab.
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    Die Tragödie des Access and Benefit-Sharings: Nutzungsregeln für genetische Ressourcen und digitale Sequenzinformation
    (Universität Trier, 2024) Klünker, Irma
    Mehr als eine Million Arten sind vom Aussterben bedroht. Die Bilanz des Access and Benefit-Sharings mehr als 30 Jahre nach Unterzeichnung der Biodiversitätskonvention ist jedoch ernüchternd. Die vorliegende Dissertation zeigt mittels einer ökonomischen Analyse des Rechts, warum unter dem derzeitigen Property-Rights-Ansatz bislang kaum monetäre Vorteile aus der Nutzung von genetischen Ressourcen geteilt wurden. Stattdessen droht angesichts des aktuell verhandelten Access and Benefit-Sharings an digitaler Sequenzinformation eine Tragödie der Anticommons, also eine Unternutzung von genetischer Information. Als Lösung schlägt die Arbeit eine Kombination aus Property und Liability Rules für genetische Ressourcen und digitale Sequenzinformation vor, die eine Nutzung ermöglichen und gleichzeitig einen Vorteilsausgleich sicherstellen.
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    Arbeit und Qualifizierung 2030 – Essentials. Eine Momentaufnahme aus dem Maschinenraum der dualen Transformation von Digitalisierung und Elektromobilität: Transformationserleben – Transformationsressourcen – Transformationsbereitschaft bei Volkswagen
    (Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2023) Pfeiffer, Sabine; Baethge, Volker; Blank, Marco; Bolte, Annegret; Elsholz, Uwe; Hauschild, Janna; Heinlein, Michael; Huchler, Norbert; Krzywdzinski, Martin; Kuhlmann, Martin; Meyer, Rita; Neumer, Judith; Ottaiano, Mario; Ritter, Tobias; Rühling, Shana; Sauer, Stefan; Wilbers, Karl; Windelband, Lars
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    To What Extent Can Individualisation in Terms of Different Types of Mode Improve Learning Outcomes and Learner Satisfaction? A Pre-study
    (2023) Gonnermann, Jana; Brandenburger, Bonny; Vladova, Gergana; Gronau, Norbert
    With the latest technological developments and associated new possibilities in teaching, the personalisation of learning is gaining more and more importance. It assumes that individual learning experiences and results could generally be improved when personal learning preferences are considered. To do justice to the complexity of the personalisation possibilities of teaching and learning processes, we illustrate the components of learning and teaching in the digital environment and their interdependencies in an initial model. Furthermore, in a pre-study, we investigate the relationships between the learner's ability to (digital) self-organise, the learner’s prior- knowledge learning in different variants of mode and learning outcomes as one part of this model. With this pre-study, we are taking the first step towards a holistic model of teaching and learning in digital environments.