Epistemologies of AI: Imagining the Social World in and through AI Research
Speakers
Ruth Müller
Department of Science, Technology and Society, Technical University of Munich
Svenja Breuer
Department of Science, Technology and Society, Technical University of Munich
Michael Holohan
School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich
Title
"Epistemologies of AI: Imagining the Social World in and through AI Research"
Abstract
The pervasive influence of emerging AI technologies on diverse aspects of our lives places researchers and engineers in a pivotal role as shapers of these advancements. In this panel, we shed light on the role of engineer’s understandings of the social worlds that make up the application contexts for AI-enabled technologies. The panel includes two presentations: the first explores how engineers’ understandings of healthcare intricately influence design and user engagement within robotics research and discusses how domain-specific knowledge can get incorporated into robotics research. The second presents the example of AI-enabled chatbots in psychotherapeutic contexts, examining how this technology reimagines clinical psychotherapeutic practice and AI development alike. Emphasizing questions of responsibility, the panel explores the ethical and social considerations inherent in AI research and application.
About Speakers
Ruth Müller is an associate Professor of Science and Technology Policy at the Department of Science, Technology and Society, Technical University of Munich. Her work explores the nexus of science, technology, society, and policy, focusing particularly on how institutional norms and values shape scientific knowledge production practices, on emergent knowledge cultures in the life sciences, biomedicine, and healthcare technologies, and on the circulation and interpretation of life science knowledge, biotechnologies, and artificial intelligence in society and policy. Since 2022, she has been the co-director of the Center for Responsible AI Technologies (CReAITech) in Munich.
Svenja Breuer is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Science, Technology and Society at the Technical University of Munich. In her research, she traces imaginaries of artificial intelligence and robotics through public policy and engineering practice, focusing on application domains like service robotics for nursing and machine learning for medical imaging. Svenja is currently a visiting researcher at NYU Tandon.
Michael Holohan is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of History and Ethics in Medicine at the School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, where he explores the relationship between different conceptions of the mind in psychoanalysis and biomedicine and the relevance of psychoanalytic thought for contemporary biomedical practice, research, and ethics. Michael is also a psychoanalyst in private practice in Munich, Germany, and has an interdisciplinary background in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and science and technology studies.