Research

Our research combines foundational analytic philosophy with applied ethics of technology.

Working from a core commitment to Ethics by Design, we pursue eight interlocking research strands: from moral responsibility, metaethical foundations, and AI alignment to creativity, media, climate, and the ethics of autonomous and urban systems, sustained by a wide network of international collaborators and embedded in TUHH's interdisciplinary research clusters.

1. Responsibility

How should moral and legal responsibility be attributed when AI systems cause harm or make consequential decisions? This strand develops a rigorous philosophical account — encompassing strict answerability, consent, and autonomy — and applies it to AI systems, neural implants, and cyber-risks in healthcare. It is the theoretical backbone of the institute's engagement with trustworthy AI governance.

· Moral responsibility · Consent & autonomy · AI liability · Cyber-risk ethics · Neural implants

People: Kiener (lead) · Douglas · Storrs-Fox · Forsberg · Mitchell · Cavolo · Abrahams · McGuire · Bermúdez · Elstub

2. Creativity, Philosophy of Mind & AI

What is genuine creativity, and can AI systems possess it? This strand investigates creativity, authorship, and aesthetic value in the age of generative AI, drawing on philosophy of mind, value-sensitive design, and analytic aesthetics. It examines whether large language models can genuinely follow rules, what it means for an AI to produce something new, and how these questions reshape intellectual property, innovation ethics, and the design of AI systems. Art-historical perspectives on technology and artistic expression — contributed by Hofmeister — complement the philosophical core.

· AI creativity & authorship · Philosophy of mind · Aesthetics · LLMs & rule-following · Value-sensitive design · Innovation ethics

People: Bozenhard (lead) · Bermúdez · Hofmeister · Kiener · Maedje

3. Technical AI Alignment & Trustworthy Systems

How can AI systems be made reliably aligned with human values throughout their lifecycle? This strand bridges philosophy and computer science, examining calibration and credences in LLMs, red-teaming methodologies for AI safety, and the ethics of explainability and human oversight. It engages directly with AI governance frameworks, the EU AI Act, and industry practice, and connects to the Machine Learning in Engineering (MLE) initiative at TUHH.

· AI safety & alignment · Red-teaming · LLM calibration · Explainability · EU AI Act · Human oversight

People: Bozenhard · Baum (DFKI) · Kolain · Elstub · Kiener · Bozenhard

Connected to: FSP Cyber-Physical Systems · MLE Initiative

4. Ethics of Autonomous Driving

Self-driving vehicles concentrate some of the hardest problems in AI ethics: how should an autonomous system deal with risk or varying driving cultures across the globe? Who bears liability when no human is in control? How should risk be distributed across manufacturers, regulators, insurers, and users? This strand examines these questions through careful philosophical analysis, contributing to debates on the moral architecture of automated decision-making and the governance of safety-critical AI in transport.

· Moral decision-making in AVs · Liability without control · Risk distribution · Safety-critical AI · Transport governance

People: Hölzer (doctoral, lead) · Kiener

Connected to: FSP Cyber-Physical Systems · FSP Logistics Management & Technology

5. Ethics of Smart Cities

Smart city technologies — sensor networks, digital twins, real-time mobility data, AI-optimised routing — raise urgent ethical questions about who benefits, who is surveilled, and who decides. This strand is the institute's primary contribution to the Next Generation City Networking (NGCN) project within HAWICC, investigating fairness, inclusion, data sovereignty, and democratic accountability in AI-driven urban environments. It also addresses the ethics of social media platforms as a dimension of digital urban life.

· Fairness & inclusion · Data sovereignty · Digital twins · Democratic accountability · Social media ethics

People: Weber (doctoral, lead) · Coordes · Kiener

Connected to: NGCN / HAWICC project · FSP Logistics Management & Technology

6. Climate Ethics through Engineering Innovation

Engineering innovation is both a driver of climate change and our primary means of addressing it. This strand examines the ethical dimensions of technological responses to the climate crisis — including AI deployment, carbon dioxide removal, and sustainable infrastructure — asking how responsibility should be distributed across generations, nations, and institutions, and what it means to treat climate change as an emergency requiring urgent but ethically constrained action. The strand is anchored in the UNU Hub on Engineering to Face Climate Change at TUHH, and developed in close collaboration with Oxford's Environmental Change Institute and Institute for Ethics in AI.

· Engineering & climate responsibility · Carbon removal ethics · Intergenerational justice · Emergency ethics · Sustainable infrastructure

People: Evatt · Storrs-Fox · O'Brien · Kiener

Connected to: UNU Hub on Engineering to Face Climate Change

7. Media, Technology & Society

How do technologies shape media forms — and how does media represent technology back to society? This strand addresses two interlocking questions: how technological change has historically generated new media from early cinema to the algorithmic present, and how audiovisual and fictional representations of AI and human-machine interaction reflect and shape societal values, fears, and aspirations. Current work focuses on digital culture, cultural robotics, the spatial and genre theory of film, and the aesthetic and ethical implications of AI-generated audiovisual media. The strand co-organised the international conference Farewell to Reality? AI and Audiovisual Media (2025), funded by the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg.

· Film theory & genre · AI in audiovisual media · Digital culture · Cultural robotics · Media history

People: Schmidt (lead) · Coordes · Weber · Kiener

Partnership with the Institute for Media and Communication, University of Hamburg (Prof. Thomas Weber). Joint student exchange programme launched 2024.

8. Metaethics & Methodology

What foundations can ground applied ethics in technology? This strand examines the method of reflective equilibrium — how moral judgments and principles can be mutually refined through a process of reciprocal adjustment — and investigates whether metaethical constructivism can specify and justify this method for technology ethics. It underpins the institute's broader commitment to rigorous philosophical foundations as the basis for practical ethical work.

· Reflective equilibrium · Metaethics · Constructivism · Normative methodology

People: Maedje (doctoral, lead) · Kiener · Bozenhard

Interdisciplinary Research Clusters at TUHH

The institute participates in four TUHH-wide Forschungsschwerpunkte (FSPs) and the UNU Hub. Because these clusters engage multiple research strands simultaneously, they are presented as cross-cutting partnerships.

FSP Cyber-Physical Systems

Ethical perspectives on safety-critical AI, human-machine interaction, privacy and security in real-time systems, and machine learning for adaptive control.

→ Strands 1, 3, 4

FSP Medical Technology & Biomechanics

In collaboration with UKE Hamburg-Eppendorf: patient consent, privacy, and the ethics of imaging, robotics, microelectronic sensors, and AI in clinical settings.

→ Strands 1, 3

FSP Logistics Management & Technology

Algorithmic fairness, data privacy, labour ethics, and the societal impact of automation in global value chains and autonomous transport.

→ Strands 4, 5

Machine Learning in Engineering (MLE) Initiative

Ethics by Design principles embedded into AI development across TUHH departments and partner institutions, from foundational research to industry knowledge transfer.

→ Strands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

UNU Hub — Engineering to Face Climate Change

UN University platform at TUHH connecting climate ethics research to global engineering, policy, and science communities.

→ Strands 5, 6