Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://www.weizenbaum-library.de/handle/id/1115
The Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society (WJDS) is an interdisciplinary, diamond open access journal that investigates processes of digitalization in society from the perspectives of different research areas.
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Item Generative AI and Changes to Knowledge Work(Weizenbaum Institute, 2025) Butollo, Florian; Haase, Jennifer; Katzinski, Ann; Krüger, Anne K.The application of generative AI (GenAI) tools has led to widespread speculation about the implications of technological change for the future of knowledge work. This article provides insights on how the use of GenAI affects work practices in the fields of IT programming, science and coaching based on expert interviews and a quantitative survey among users of GenAI. Specifically, we ask about perceptions on skills, creativity, and authenticity, which we regard as key qualities of knowledge work. Our results belie the expectation that human expertise and skills lose importance. Our study rather shows the contrary: debates and experiences with genAI help to sharpen and value the core of the professional identity. Our study thus also highlights that professions consist of more than the sum of single work tasks. They contain experiential and tacit knowledge about how to frame, prepare, and interpret work steps that are difficult to replicate by machines. However, there are also concerns that professions could be hollowed out and especially that the quality of products and services could deteriorate as automated ‘good-enough-versions’ of the former offers become commonplace.Item The Effects of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics on Employment and Wages in Korean Manufacturing Firms(Weizenbaum Institute, 2025-04-17) Jeong, Jun Ho; Jo, Hyung JeThis article analyzes the effects of two key automation technologies – artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics – on employment and wages in Korean manufacturing since the late 2010s. Drawing on firm-level data from the Survey of Business Activities and individual wage data from the Local Labor Force Survey, the analysis explores both firm- and worker-level impacts. Adoption of these technologies is concentrated in large firms within the electronics and automotive sectors. Robotics has been widely implemented, primarily for cost reduction, safety enhancement, and union avoidance, whereas AI adoption remains limited but is gradually expanding. The results reveal contrasting effects: AI adoption is associated with job creation and wage growth, while robotics tends to reduce both employment and wages – an outcome that diverges from findings in existing firm-level studies. These negative effects appear to stem from Korea’s institutional context, where automation – particularly robotics – is frequently employed to reduce labor costs rather than to enhance productivity, as well as from diminishing marginal returns in industries with long-standing automation. Importantly, these wage effects persist even when U.S.-based automation exposure measures are applied, suggesting broader applicability. However, the findings underscore that the economic impact of automation depends significantly on the motivations and strategies behind its adoption. In the case of Korean manufacturing, capital-biased automation driven by robotics has contributed mainly to labor displacement without generating substantial productivity gains, reflecting Acemoglu and Restrepo’s (2018) notion of ‘so-so automation.’Item Generative AI and the Ethical Risks Associated with Human-Computer Symbiosis(Weizenbaum Institute, 2024-12-05) Stockman, CarolineThis article critically examines digital technology through the lens of existential philosophy concerned with human-technology interaction. One such philosophy is human-technology symbiosis (or man-computer symbiosis, in J.C.R. Licklider’s terminology). A similar view appears in Douglas Engelbart’s work on the augmentation of human intelligence. These ideas form the framework for this paper’s analysis. The early computing scientists considered technical progress with deep care for the future of human creativity and human intelligence. They set a course for a new future of human-computer interaction that would take the form of a partnership or a team. Their values continue to play powerfully into digital culture today. The ethical concerns for cybernetics voiced by Norbert Wiener further enrich the critical positioning in this paper. Using this theoretical framework, the analysis will show that generative artificial intelligence is philosophically congruent with the idea of symbiotic human-technology interaction. Microsoft’s Copilot will serve as a concrete illustration. However, certain aspects of human interactions with generative artificial intelligence may pose ethical concerns, particularly related to personal and social responsibility, the nature of knowledge, and the value placed on the human element. This renews the importance of rigorous governance systems and education.Item Making Choices Rational: The Elective Affinity of Artificial Intelligence and Organizational Decision-Making(Weizenbaum Institute, 18-10-2024) Meyer, Uli; Werner, RenéThis article investigates the elective affinity between decision-making models in the fields of organizational theory and artificial intelligence (AI), exploring the decision-making influence of societal ideas in these two research contexts. Using Herbert Simon’s work on organizations and AI as an example, we examine the properties of these societal ideas and identify six key characteristics, emphasizing rational calculations based on a logic of consequences. These specific notions of decision-making converge again in the phenomenon of AI-based algorithmic decision-making in organizations, as we demonstrate using examples from descriptions and advertisements of such systems, the current literature on their use, and empirical research concerning organizational practices.Item Too Far Away from the Job Market – Says Who? Linguistically Analyzing Rationales for AI-based Decisions Concerning Employment Support(Weizenbaum Institute, 2024-07-03) Berman, AlexanderThis paper describes an AI-based decision-support system deployed by the Swedish Public Employment Service to assist decisions concerning jobseekers’ enrolment in an employment support initiative. Informed by previous research concerning explanations in relation to trust, appealability, and procedural fairness, as well as jobseekers’ needs and interests in relation to algorithmic decision-making, the study linguistically analyses the extent to which the system enables affected jobseekers to understand the basis of decisions and to appeal or take other actions in response to automated assessments. The study also analyses the degree to which rationales behind decisions accurately reflect the actual decision-making process. Several weaknesses in these regards are highlighted, largely resulting from the opacity of the statistical model and the linguistic choices behind the design of explanations. Potential strategies for increasing the explainability of the system as a means to meet the needs and interests of affected jobseekers are also discussed. More broadly, the study contributes to a better understanding of how the linguistic design of AI explanations can affect normative dimensions, such as trust and appealability.Item Unlocking AI’s Potential: Human Collaboration as the Catalyst(Weizenbaum Institute, 2024-05-27) Buxmann, Peter; Ellenrieder, SaraRapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have fueled high expectations for the technology’s potential to fundamentally transform our economy and society through automation. However, given the inscrutability and, sometimes, susceptibility to error of AI systems, we argue that the focus should shift towards fostering effective human-AI collaboration rather than pursuing automation alone. In this context, system decisions must be made available to decision-makers in an explainable and understandable manner, as further required by the EU’s recently passed AI Act. Research shows that there is potential for humans to learn from explainable AI systems and improve their own performance over time. Meanwhile, in addition to enabling humans to benefit from working with AI systems on various everyday tasks, such collaboration ensures the safe and reliable use of AI systems, especially in high-risk areas such as medicine, where human oversight remains paramount.Item Human Experience and AI Regulation: What European Union Law Brings to Digital Technology Ethics(Weizenbaum Institute, 2023-12-31) Bryson, Joanna J.Although nearly all artificial intelligence (AI) regulatory documents now reference the importance of human-centering digital systems, we frequently see AI ethics itself reduced to limited concerns, such as bias and, sometimes, power consumption. Although their impacts on human lives and our ecosystem render both of these absolutely critical, the ethical and regulatory challenges and obligations relating to AI do not stop there. Joseph Weizenbaum described the potential abuse of intelligent systems to make inhuman cruelty and acts of war more emotionally accessible to human operators. But more than this, he highlighted the need to solve the social issues that facilitate violent acts of war, and the immense potential the use of computers offers in this context. The present article reviews how the EU’s digital regulatory legislation—well enforced—could help us address such concerns. I begin by reviewing why the EU leads in this area, considering the legitimacy of its actions both regionally and globally. I then review the legislation already protecting us—the General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act—and consider their role in achieving Weizenbaum’s goals. Finally, I consider the almost-promulgated AI Act before concluding with a brief discussion of the potential for future enforcement and more global regulatory cooperation.Item Promises and Myths of Artificial Intelligence(Weizenbaum Institute, 2024-02-19) Hirsch-Kreinsen, Hartmut; Krokowski, ThorbenThe 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.Item Editorial: Practicing Sovereignty – Interventions for Open Digital Futures(Weizenbaum Institute, 2023) Irrgang, Daniel; Herlo, BiancaThis issue is dedicated to the Weizenbaum Conference 2022, titled ‘Practicing Sovereignty: Interventions for Open Digital Futures.’ The Weizenbaum Institute’s annual gathering brought together researchers, networks, and collaborators to focus on the theme of ‘digital sovereignty.’ This term, hotly debated and used with varying connotations in fields such as research, activism, law, and policy-making, refers to competencies, duties, and rights in digital societies. The contributions compiled in this issue are based on papers presented at the 2022 conference. They explore notions of digital sovereignty in tension with topics such as AI deepfakes, algorithmic governmentality, ethics and datafication in the context of machine learning, and community-driven open-access publishing in academia.Item The Limits of Computation: Joseph Weizenbaum and the ELIZA Chatbot(Weizenbaum Institute, 2023) Berry, David M.Developed in the 1960s by Joseph Weizenbaum, ELIZA is arguably among the most influential computer programs ever written. ELIZA – and especially its most famous persona DOCTOR – continues to inspire programmers, wider discussions about AI, and imitations. This original ancestor of all conversa-tional interfaces and chatbots maintains a special fascination for engineers, historians, and philosophers of artificial intelligence (AI) and computing. With its ability to produce human-like responses using a relatively small amount of computer code, ELIZA has paved the way for a multitude of similar programs. These take the form of conversation agents and other human-computer inter-faces that have inspired entire new fields of study within computer science. This paper examines Weizenbaum’s contribution to AI and considers his more critical writings in the context of contemporary developments in generative AI, such as ChatGPT. Examining how ELIZA has been discussed can provide insights into current debates surrounding machine learning and AI.