The Institute for Ethics in Technology at TUHH, in partnership with the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI, is pleased to host the upcoming conference “Climate and Responsibility: Ethical Perspectives”, bringing together leading voices in philosophy and ethics to explore the moral dimensions of climate change and their implications for action, innovation, and policy.

This event is part of the UNU Hub on Engineering to Face Climate Change at TUHH and plays a key role in connecting ethical reflection with engineering innovation. As we confront the urgent challenges posed by the climate crisis, the conference aims to foster meaningful dialogue between the humanities and technical disciplines—ensuring that solutions are not only effective but also just and responsible.

We are honored to welcome an outstanding lineup of speakers:
– Matthew Braham (University of Hamburg)
– Emma Curran (University of Oxford)
– Alice Evatt (University of Oxford)
– David Storrs-Fox (University of Oxford)

Join us for an interdisciplinary exchange on responsibility, justice, and the future of climate action.
Register for in-person attendance: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/conference-climate-and-responsibility-ethical-perspectives-tickets-1316065480279?aff=oddtdtcreator (Zoom details are available on this website too.)

In collaboration with the Institute for Media and Communication at the University of Hamburg, our Institute for Ethics in Technology is hosting the interdisciplinary conference „Abschied von der Wirklichkeit? KI und die audiovisuellen Medien“ („Farewell to Reality? AI and Audiovisual Media, in German).

We are honored to welcome leading AI experts from film and media studies, literature, technology, cultural studies, and philosophy. Together, we will critically examine how AI influences audiovisual media, analyse current developments, and explore both theoretical and practical insights into how AI transforms media practices, perception, and our very understanding of reality.

September 23-24, 2025
University of Hamburg

Speakers include:

- Prof. Dr. Stephanie Catani (Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg)
- Prof. Dr. Julia Eckel (Paderborn University)
- Prof. Dr. Franziska Heller (University of Halle)
- Dr. Jasmin Kermanchi (University of Hamburg)
- Dr. Guido Kirsten (Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)
- Dr. habil. Thomas Klein (University of Hamburg)
- Prof. Dr. Angela Krewani (Philipps-University Marburg)
- Prof. Dr. Catrin Misselhorn (Georg-August-University Göttingen)
- Prof. Dr. Ulrich Rüdel (HTW Berlin, University of Applied Sciences)
- Prof. Dr. Jens Schröter (University of Bonn)
- PD Dr. Andreas Sudmann (University of Bonn)
- Dr. Kathrin Yacavone (Philipps-University Marburg)

more information on the conference website

registration on Eventbrite

Fundes by The Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg (Akademie der Wissenschaften in Hamburg)

For further information, contact the organisers: Jasmin Kermanchi (jasmin.kermanchi@uni-hamburg.de), Oliver Schmidt (oliver.schmidt@tuhh.de), Thomas Weber (thomas.weber@uni-hamburg.de)

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the future of AI and media with top experts—see you in Hamburg!

Venue: Hamburg University of Technology, Am Schwarzenberg Campus 1, 21073 Hamburg. Room: I-0053/54

Dates: 13 June 2024 09:00 to 14 June 2024 16:00

Contemporary AI systems create a wide variety of risks, ranging from bias, discrimination, and misinformation to privacy concerns and socioeconomic harms. In reaction to these issues, some call for striker regulation (see the EU’s AI Act). Yet, others argue that regulation runs the risk of stifling innovation (see the UK’s hands-off take on AI regulation).

A relatively new approach in the ethics of technology, however, promises to help build safe and trustworthy AI without hampering innovation – the so-called ethics by design approach. Simply put, ethics by design commonly refers to incorporating ethical principles into all phases of the design and development process of technology. With respect to the current AI landscape, this means weaving ethics into the different phases of the AI lifecycle. According to this approach to responsible innovation, ethics is an integral part of technological development, not merely an afterthought. In other words, the ethics by design aims to merge ethics and innovation.

However, the specifics of what ethics by design entails and how it should be pursued are still widely debated. This conference explores the methodological and practical implications of this new approach and examines its potential and limitations. The conference focuses not only on clarifying the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of this approach, but also discusses its feasibility and practical value. Since ethics by design represents a way of doing tech ethics through engineering, it demands a diverse set of skills, comprising both technical and philosophical competencies. For that reason, the conference will also explore the role of collaboration and interdisciplinary exchange in the context of this approach, including related challenges. Lastly, the conference also reflects on how ethics by design can complement regulatory efforts and how it relates to other instruments in the responsible innovation toolbox such as usability testing, expert interviews, auditing, red-teaming, socio-technical scenarios, or thought experiments.

Speakers include: Joanna Bryson (Hertie School Berlin), David Storrs-Fox (University of Oxford), Maximilian Kiener (Hamburg University of Technology), Sven Nyholm (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), Judith Simon (University of Hamburg), Ibo van de Poel (Delft University of Technology), Jonas Bozenhard (Hamburg University of Technology).

We thank the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP) for their generous support of this conference.