We are happy to announce that the lecture series of the winter term 2025/26 will revolve around the topic of Digital Complexity: Beyond Human Understanding.

Current developments in the fields of simulation and artificial intelligence have shown that the complexity of digital tools has exceeded the levels of human understanding. We can no longer comprehend and explain the results that AI delivers. Even AI deceptions and hallucinations are now almost impossible to detect. This raises the question of the relationship between humans and their technology anew. Are technologies as instruments useful extensions of human capabilities, as it was understood in the classical philosophy of technology, or are we now extensions of technology? Will AI dominate us in the near future?

The lecture series addresses these fundamental questions as well as ethical issues of digital transformation. It also takes a look at the development of digitality as a modern paradigm. Even though digital computers first appeared in the 1940s, there is a longer-term history of the development of digital tools and methods deeply rooted in our self-understanding as humans. Knowledge of this history makes it easier to understand current developments.

But what exactly do these current developments mean for science and society? The different lectures aim to tackle various aspects of the digital transformation of science and society from the perspective of “digital complexity.” Questions about explainable AI, about the well-being of people in a digital world, about the social and political impact of digital, social media will be explored, as well as the provocative question of who will be doing research in the future: humans or AI?

Various speakers, including the media theorist Anna Tuschling and the sociologist Dirk Baecker, will be guests at the KHK c:o/re to shed light on “Digital Complexity: Beyond Human Understanding” from different disciplinary perspectives.

Please find an overview of the dates and speakers in the program.

The lectures will take place from October 22, 2025, to February 11, 2026, every second Wednesday from 5 to 6:30 pm in presence and online.

Part of the lecture series are three keynotes, held in the context of the 8th HaPoC Conference “History and Philosophy of Computing,” hosted by c:o/re in December 2025. The conference will examine the topic of “digital complexity” in greater detail.

If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

KHK c:o/re Fellow Hannah Star Rogers contributes to Integrative Contemporary Art and Science Practices Building Catalytic Structures, a newly released volume, edited by J.D. Talasek and Barbara Stauffer, and published by Routledge.

Contemporary Art and Science Practices: Building Catalytic Structures (2025) considers how such interdisciplinary efforts have shifted from outsider experiments to increasingly institutionalized initiatives. It examines the motivations, challenges, and transformative potential of this integration across public engagement, education, and cultural discourse. This groundbreaking collection brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to examine the evolving relationship between contemporary art and scientific inquiry. In addition to Rogers, the text features contributions from other leading voices in art and science, including William L. Fox, Ellen Levy, Mel Chin, Brandon and Aurore Ballengée, and Jill Scott. This volume is a vital resource for researchers, educators, curators, artists, scientists, and policy makers navigating the complex intersections of knowledge, creativity, and collaboration.

Rogers’ chapter, “Art, Science and Technology Studies: Charting Collaborative Practice,” offers a compelling analysis of the power dynamics, collaborative models, and institutional conditions shaping art-science partnerships today. Rogers’ work contributes a critical theoretical framework from Art, Science, and Technology Studies (ASTS), a subfield of Science and Technology Studies (STS), to advocate for more symmetrical, equitable modes of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Rogers argues for understanding both art and science as socially and culturally situated systems of knowledge. Drawing on examples ranging from historical botanical illustration to contemporary biotech art and artist residencies, she categorizes four prevalent models of collaboration, each with distinct power structures, intentions, and outcomes. She critiques the persistent instrumentalization of art – particularly in science communication – where artistic practice is often reduced to a tool for enhancing scientific messages. Her chapter provides a roadmap for critically evaluating and fostering more generative, balanced partnerships between artists and scientists.

About the Editors:
J.D. Talasek is a curator, researcher, and writer known for integrating the arts into scientific contexts through his leadership at the National Academy of Sciences and as editor-in-chief of Leonardo Journal.

Barbara Stauffer, a ceramic artist and former program director at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, has led numerous interdisciplinary initiatives focused on public engagement and education.

On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 6:00 pm, Professor Caspar Hirschi from the University of St. Gallen will give a talk on “A child of the knowledge economy? On the history of the history of knowledge” (“Ein Kind der Wissensökonomie? Zur Geschichte der Wissensgeschichte”) in the KHK c:o/re lecture hall. The talk will be held in German.

Everyone is cordially invited to attend!

For further information and registration, please contact Sandra Dresia: dresia@histinst.rwth-aachen.de