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ComAI Summer School 2025: Poster Sessions, Deep Dives and Feminist Techno-Science in Graz

From 17 to 19 September 2025, the annual ComAI Summer School took place in Graz, following the research group’s retreat. The event began with poster presentations in which all doctoral researchers pitched the current state of their dissertation projects in short talks. Afterwards, they received focused feedback from PIs of other subprojects during an open poster session; an opportunity that was perceived by all as particularly appreciative and productive.

In addition to the project presentations, methodological exchange was a key focus: in small groups, the doctoral researchers discussed theoretical concepts such as figurations, agency, and communicative constructivism, and shared approaches to analysis – from grounded theory to AI-assisted text analysis. They also had the chance to participate in the parallel Summer School “Data, Democracy & the New Social Fabric”, attending workshops on Digital Methods (with Bernhard Rieder) and on Large Language Models in research (with João Pinheiro Neto and Ruggero Lazzaroni).

A highlight of the program was the closing workshop by Annika Richterich (Maastricht University) on gender, diversity, and inequality in communicative AI research. The workshop introduced key approaches from feminist science and technology studies, from Donna Haraway’s “Situated Knowledges” to Ruha Benjamin’s “Race after Technology.” Together, participants reflected on how ComAI research could be made more diversity-sensitive – for example, by consciously including multiple perspectives, making invisible labor visible, and considering the social as well as ecological impacts of AI.

The Summer School was rounded off by a lively social program with excursions (including a visit to the “Friendly Alien”) and shared dinners, which fostered close networking within the group.