Instability and Complexity. On the Emergence of Late-Modern Science – Jan C. Schmidt

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

“Instability and Complexity. On the Emergence of Late-Modern Science” by  Jan C. Schmidt (Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences) Abstract In my talk, I distinguish between compositional and dynamical complexity – in order to focus on the latter from the perspective of complex systems theory. Complex systems theory, including nonlinear dynamics, chaos-, self-organization- and catastrophe theory, …

European Traditions of Philosophy of Science: Unexpected Varieties

University of Bucharest Splaiul Independenței nr. 204, București, Romania

Workshop organized by c:o/re, Aachen University & Dr. Andrei Mărășoiu To understand the context-sensitive justificatory practices at work in scientific pursuits, an understanding of research cultures and the variation therein is necessary. In this light, this workshop addresses the interaction between logic and metaphysical models in scientific practices and social and cultural approaches to these …

Neither Good nor Old-Fashioned: On the Curious Complexity of Soviet AI – Benjamin Peters

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

“Neither Good nor Old-Fashioned: On the Curious Complexity of Soviet AI” by Benjamin Peters (University of Tulsa). Abstract: This public talk will explore the material media philosophies of Soviet artificial intelligence research and its precursors. In particular, it will examine the case for not-anthropomorphic, even invisual imaginations of smart technologies in the wartime wake of …

Complexity – From Natural and Social Sciences to Artificial Intelligence – Klaus Mainzer

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

“Complexity – From Natural and Social Sciences to Artificial Intelligence” - Klaus Mainzer (TU Munich). Abstract: According to several prominent authors, including Stephen Hawking, a main part of 21st century science will be on complexity research. The intuitive idea is that global patterns and structures emerge from locally interacting elements like atoms in laser beams, molecules …

A Philosophy of Artscience: Something Old, Something Novel – Clarissa Lee

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

“A Philosophy of Artscience: Something Old, Something Novel” by Clarissa Lee (transdisciplinary researcher, c:o/re Aachen). Abstract: This talk explores how one could develop and apprehend a philosophically intuited syzygy that is art and science, giving way to art-science and artscience (without the hyphen). However, this is not merely about what philosophy could do for artscience (the …

Artificial Intelligence: The Brand That Wouldn’t Die. A lecture by Professor Thomas Haigh

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

The history of AI is the history of an overhyped brand that has only very recently come to signify a set of deployable technologies with broad application and clear, if somewhat horrifying, purposes. Over almost seventy years it’s been attached to a range of loosely related projects, none of which have yet come close to …

Exposures, Photographic and Otherwise: Complex Encounters with Toxicity – Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

Exposures, Photographic and Otherwise: Complex Encounters with Toxicity - Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou. Abstract: “Exposure,” as a term, freely flows in different contexts, from environmentalist and activist circles to scientific and medical discourse. Levels of exposure—to radiation, to lead, to asbestos, and beyond—are deemed safe or unsafe by shifting regulatory frameworks. And more often than not, these …

Complexity beteween hype and history – Arianna Borrelli

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

“Complexity beteween hype and history” by Arianna Borrelli (TU Berlin). Abstract: Speaking about the history of computing, Michael Mahoney stated  that "hype hides history" (2005) and, indeed, the same could be said of the history of complexity. Between the 1980s and the early '90s the study of complex systems and related areas (deterministic chaos, nonlinear systems) …

Lecture and discussion with Phil MacNaghten: The knowledge politics of making anticipatory knowledge

Stadtpalais Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

How can we engage with futures that are by definition uncertain and unknowable? How can we democratise the making of anticipative knowledge? How can we use such knowledge to contest, if necessary, the futures that are inscribed in techno-visionary science? Adopting a science and technology studies perspective, a public engagement methodology is presented aimed at …

Life from scratch – Gabriele Gramelsberger

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

Abstract: For more than a decade, scientists have been exploring the transition from non-living to living entities in order to create life from scratch, i.e., to move chemically from protoplasm to protocells and finally to artificial organisms. Today, synthetic biology aims to genetically engineer life from scratch, such as the synthetic Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn3.0—an artificial …

Robot, a Laboratory “Animal”: Producing Knowledge through and about Human-Robot Interaction – Andrei Korbut

Stadtpalais/Online Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, Germany

Abstract: The lecture focuses on the use of robots (primarily humanoid) in robotics laboratories to produce knowledge about human–robot interaction (HRI). Robotics is a large and diverse field, but with the recent development of artificial conversational systems and the increasing availability of human-like machines, HRI is now one of the fastest growing and most dynamic …