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The prevalence of speech assistants taking orders, social bots influencing debates, and machines generating texts underscores the increasing sophistication of automated communication. Simultaneously, public discourse on these phenomena reflects the ongoing challenges associated with the automation of communication. It seems that the intricacies of today’s complex societies compel a reliance on automation to meet communication needs, while also generating additional issues for which automated communication appears to be the most plausible solution.

Research in nine projects plus coordination project

The “Communicative AI“ Research Unit, funded by the DFG and the FWF, is investigating in nine projects and one coordination project how societal communication changes when communicative AI becomes part of it. Top researchers from the fields of media and communication studies, informatics, sociology and law are involved. The research focuses on pioneer communities, the development of interfaces, the legal handling and governance of communicative AI, its role in journalism, in public (online) discourse, in everyday personal life through technological companions, in the health sector and in learning and teaching.

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The AI suggestion box for concerns about journalism at re:publica

There are plenty of concerns and fears when it comes to how communicative AI is appropriated in journalism. To capture these, the project “Journalism: Automating the news and journalistic autonomy” has adopted a familiar tool often used in classrooms: the suggestion box. In this case it is a colourful box into which visitors to re:publica, (…)

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ComAI members at the Innovation Forum at St Monica Trust

On 14 April, ComAI team members Leonie Winterpacht and Sara Skardelly (from the subproject “Health: Caring through ComAI”) took part in the Innovation Forum, organized by the Centre of Innovation at St Monica Trust in Bristol, UK. The annual forum brings together residents, innovators, researchers, and care providers who are interested in the future of (…)

ComAI Research Visit

Research Visit to the Emerging Technologies Lab and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society

Earlier this year, Sara Skardelly, from the subproject “Health: Caring through ComAI”, spent six weeks as a PhD visitor at the Emerging Technologies Research Lab (ETLab) at Monash University and joined the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S). The visit strengthened her methodological toolkit in visual ethnography and deepened her engagement (…)

Illustration "Futuring", by Wokandapix

Workshop "From Analyses of the Present to Futuring" – 28–29 May 2026, Bremen

The ComAI research group (FOR 5656 »Communicative AI«) and the Knowledge Sociology Section of the German Sociological Association (DGS) warmly invite you to the interdisciplinary workshop “Von Gegenwartsanalysen zum Futuring. Methods for the Future-Oriented Generation of Practice and Knowledge”. The workshop will take place on 28 and 29 May 2026 at the Haus der Wissenschaft (…)

Dr. Gabriela Molina Leon bei der ComAI Lecture

ComAI Lecture: Gabriela Molina León on the Impact of Generative AI on Visualization Research and Practice

On May 5, 2026, Gabriela Molina León visited the ComAI Lecture series. A postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University (Denmark) working at the intersection of information visualization and human-computer interaction, she presented three projects on the role of generative AI in data visualization. The first, Hey Dashboard!, introduced DIANA (Dashboard Interactive Assistant for Navigation and Analysis), (…)

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Sara Skardelly presents at the Anticipatory Infrastructures Symposium

From 23–24 February 2026, Sara Skardelly from the subproject “Health: Caring through ComAI”, took part in “Anticipatory Infrastructures”, a two-day symposium held at Monash University in Melbourne. The event was hosted by the Emerging Technologies Lab (Monash University) and co-organised by the Academy of Mobility Humanities (Konkuk University). The symposium brought together social science, arts (…)

ComAI Diversity Lecture mit Katharina Mosene

Lecture Series of the Diversity & Gender Equality Working Group: AI, Discrimination & Stereotypes

On Thursday, May 21, 2026, the ComAI research group’s Diversity & Gender Equality Working Group launches its new internal Lecture Series with a talk by Katharina Mosene (Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute). Under the title AI, Discrimination & Stereotypes, Mosene examines how communicative AI systems – particularly Large Language Models (LLMs) (…)

Graz Sociodigital and Participatory Futures Studio; Fotografin: Pia Grumeth-Zechner

Graz Sociodigital and Participatory Futures Studio has opened

On 23rd April 2026, the Graz Sociodigital and Participatory Futures Studio (short: GraSP Futures Studio) was officially opened! This collaborative space for conducting participatory research with a range of social actors aims to imagine and co-create more inclusive and equitable sociodigital futures. It will build sustained engagements with local actors and residents, and in relation (…)

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Featured on BredowCast: How is journalism appropriating AI?

Our project P5  “Journalism: The Automation of News and Journalistic Autonomy” has been featured on the BredowCast, the academic podcast of the Leibniz-Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institute. Hosted by Kristina Kobrow, Prof. Dr Wiebke Loosen, Antonia Eichenauer and Jonah Wermter discuss findings from their first year of research.   At the heart of the project’s (…)

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Keynote on “Quiet and Loud Futuring” in Shanghai

At the international conference “Creative Communication and Empowerment,” taking place on April 17. and 18. at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ZeMKI Head Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp will deliver a keynote address on the topic of “quiet and loud futuring,” which is also the subject of his book on pioneering communities in relation to media technology (…)

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Felicia Loecherbach (University of Amsterdam): Inside the Feed: Data Donation and Political Behaviour on Social Media

Date: June 23, 2026 Time: 6:30 pm Street: Schnoor 27 Location: Bremen Press-Club Abstract This talk discusses how data donation infrastructures can be used to study political behaviour on social media platforms. It introduces data donation as a way to access user-centric traces of political information exposure and engagement that are otherwise difficult to obtain, and reflects on key (…)

Funded by DFG (German Research Foundation)FWF Österreichischer Wissenschaftsfonds

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp
ZeMKI, Center for Media, Communication and Information Research University of Bremen

Phone: +49 421 218-67620
Assistent Mrs. Schober: +49 421 218-67603
E-mail: andreas.hepp@uni-bremen.de

Uni BremenZeMKI Uni BremenLeibniz Instituts für Medienforschung | Hans Bredow InstitutUni GrazUni GrazUni Wien