can machines save the world?

Digital Humanism Fellowship Conference

16-17 November 2023
MQ Architekturzentrum Wien
Museumsplatz 1, Hof 7
1070 Vienna

When it comes to the impacts of machines, robots, and Artificial Intelligence, commentators easily adopt a doom-and-gloom-perspective. This conference asks, rather provocatively, Can Machines save the World?. In doing so, it does not intend to downplay the enormous dangers inherent in digital technology (this has already been pointed out many times by the Digital Humanism Initiative).

By taking a historic perspective on the “first period of digitalization”, this approach will rather allow us to trace similar fears connected to the advent of new technologies throughout human history. Technologies such as AI may have (and already have) a beneficiary effect on human life, be it in specific sectors such as manufacturing or health care, or on society in general. This potential to be both savior or enemy in our human endeavors can be seen, for example, in the fight against global warming .

We will talk about Humans and machines (mostly about machines), their impact on economy and politics and on the environment.

This event is organized by the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) and the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) as part of their Digital Humanism fellowship program.

Speakers: Ivona Brandić, Thomas Bugnyar, Cristiano Codagnone, Felix Creutzig, Thomas Haigh, Edward A. Lee, Stavros Makris, George Metakides, Helga Nowotny, Allison Stanger, Joseph Sifakis

Panelists and Session Chairs: Anita Eichinger, Ludger Hagedorn, Gerti Kappel, Julia Neidhardt, Erich Prem, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Hannes Werthner, Michael Wiesmüller, Stefan Woltran