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New Course: Misinformation, disinformation and other digital fakery (Summer 2025)

Misinformation, disinformation, and other forms of digital deception have become central concerns in both academic inquiry and public debate. News outlets regularly spotlight incidents of disinformation; political actors accuse each other of spreading falsehoods; and regulatory initiatives often cite the threat of digital disinformation to justify increased oversight of communication environments. However, effective regulation requires a careful balance between mitigating these threats and safeguarding democratic freedoms.

Addressing this challenge demands an empirically grounded understanding of the reach, effects, and mechanisms of digital disinformation. The social sciences play a vital role in developing concepts and methods to reliably identify, measure, and analyze these phenomena.

This course equips students with a robust conceptual toolkit to critically engage with core issues surrounding misinformation, disinformation, and digital fakery. Through structured readings, presentations, and guided research projects, students will explore the actors, strategies, and effects associated with digital disinformation and develop their own research inquiries in the field.

For a comprehensive outline of weekly topics and assigned readings, please refer to the full syllabus here.

New Course: Artificial Intelligence and Democracy (Summer 2025)

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies advance, they increasingly shape how democratic and autocratic governments operate, how political actors communicate, and how citizens engage with the public sphere. This seminar offers an in-depth and interdisciplinary examination of the relationship between AI and democracy, combining foundational knowledge of AI systems with cutting-edge research on their political and societal implications.

The course begins with an introduction to core concepts: What is AI? How does it work? And under what conditions can it be effectively and safely applied? Building on this technical and conceptual groundwork, we explore how AI affects democratic institutions and processes—such as public discourse, elections, political communication, and regulatory governance—as well as how AI technologies are used by autocratic regimes for control and surveillance.

Weekly sessions are structured around thematic case studies and comparative readings that examine topics such as:

  • Foundations of AI and its alignment with human values
  • Regulatory efforts and the politics of AI governance
  • The use of AI in public administration and service delivery
  • AI’s role in journalism, public debate, and misinformation
    Campaigning, microtargeting, and opinion shaping through AI
  • The strategic deployment of AI in authoritarian regimes
  • Students will engage with contemporary scholarly debates through active discussion, critical reading, and presentations based on empirical research and theoretical analysis. The seminar draws on examples from across democratic and autocratic systems, with an emphasis on how AI technologies interact with broader processes of digital transformation, institutional change, and value contestation.

    For a comprehensive outline of weekly topics and assigned readings, please refer to the full syllabus here.

    New Working Paper: “Artificial Intelligence in Deliberation: The AI Penalty and the Emergence of a New Deliberative Divide”

    We are excited to announce the release of our new working paper, now available on arXiv. In this new working paper, Adrian Rauchfleisch and I continue our exploration of people’s opinions on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in democracy and politics. After an earlier study on the public’s views on AI in campaigning, we now turn to public opinion on AI in deliberation:

    Artificial Intelligence in Deliberation: The AI Penalty and the Emergence of a New Deliberative Divide

    Digital deliberation significantly expands opportunities for democratic engagement, yet managing deliberative processes at scale remains challenging. While AI promises to enhance efficiency in digital deliberation, our findings reveal a noteworthy “AI penalty”: public skepticism towards AI in deliberative contexts.

    Through a preregistered survey experiment with a representative sample in Germany (n=1850), we discovered that participants exhibit less willingness to engage in AI-facilitated deliberations compared to human-led formats and rate their quality significantly lower. Crucially, attitudes towards AI—including perceived benefits, risks, and the extent of anthropomorphization—significantly moderate these effects.

    Our study highlights the emergence of a new deliberative divide driven by individual attitudes towards AI. This divide presents a novel challenge to democratic participation, distinct from traditional divides shaped by demographics or educational background. As democratic practices increasingly move online and leverage AI, understanding and addressing public perceptions and hesitancy toward AI will be critical.

    Read our full working paper here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.07690

    Andreas Jungherr, and Adrian Rauchfleisch. 2025. Artificial Intelligence in Deliberation: The AI Penalty and the Emergence of a New Deliberative Divide. arxiv. Working Paper. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2503.07690

    Interview: Bundestagswahl 2025 – Der Tag danach

    Mit Andreas Bachmann habe ich im BR das Wahlergebnis kommentiert und die Pressekonferenzen der Parteien begleitet.

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    Jetzt bewerben: Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin/Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (m/w/d) für ein Forschungsprojekt zu KI im Wahlkampf an der Universität Bamberg

    Am Lehrstuhl für Politikwissenschaft insbesondere Digitale Transformation suchen wir Verstärkung für ein neues Forschungsprojekt zur Rolle generativer Künstlicher Intelligenz im Wahlkampf. Die ausgeschriebene Stelle als Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin/Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (m/w/d) (TV-L E13, 75 %) ist am Lehrstuhl für Politikwissenschaft, insbesondere Digitale Transformation, angesiedelt und bietet die Gelegenheit, sich über die nächsten vier Jahre mit den Auswirkungen von KI auf politische Kommunikation und Wahlkampftaktik auseinanderzusetzen.

    Worum geht es im Forschungsprojekt?
    Das vom Bayerischen Forschungsinstitut für Digitale Transformation (bidt) geförderte Projekt “Generative Künstliche Intelligenz im Wahlkampf: Anwendungen, Präferenzen und Vertrauen” untersucht, wie politische Akteure KI-basierte Anwendungen nutzen, was Menschen zur KI-Nutzung im Wahlkampf denken und welche Auswirkungen diese Technik auf das Vertrauen in politische Prozesse hat.

    Unsere Forschung nutzt einen Mixed-Methods-Ansatz. Wir nutzen qualitative Interviews mit Praktikerinnen und Praktikern in Wahlkampfzentralen, Beratung und Technikfirmen. Wir führen zusätzlich Bevölkerungsumfragen und Experimente zur Messung öffentlicher Meinung durch.

    Durch die systematische Analyse des Zusammenspiels von Politik, KI und Vertrauen liefert das Projekt ein umfassendes Verständnis der Auswirkungen von KI auf Wahlkampfdynamiken und demokratische Prozesse. Die Ergebnisse bieten praxisnahe Erkenntnisse für politische Entscheidungsträger, Kampagnenstrategen und Technikentwickler, um den verantwortungsvollen und transparenten Einsatz von KI in der Politik zu fördern. Gleichzeitig leistet die Forschung einen wertvollen Beitrag zum akademischen Diskurs über technische Innovationen in politischen Kampagnen und deren demokratische Implikationen.

    Bewerbung
    Die Bewerbungsfrist endet am 7. März 2025. Alle weiteren Details zur Ausschreibung finden Sie hier: Stellenausschreibung.

    Weitere Informationen zum Forschungsprojekt AI-Wahlkampf gibt es auf der Website des bidt: Projektseite.