Summer School 2023
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY
The second BIFOLD Weizenbaum summer school will focus on the complex relationship between Artificial Intelligence and sustainability, especially on Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning as instruments for sustainable development. The program will comprise keynotes, lectures, and practical sessions and is jointly organized by the BIFOLD Graduate School and the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society – the German Internet Institute.
The summer school will be a 5-day in-person event from Monday, 11 September 2023, until Friday, 15 September 2023. It is designed for doctoral students from the Weizenbaum Institute, from the network of German Centres of Excellence for AI: BIFOLD, DFKI, Lamarr, MCML, ScaDS.AI, and TUE.AI, from befriended graduate schools and from other universities and research institutes, who are passionate about machine learning, data management and the impact of cutting-edge AI on society.
KEYNOTES: The keynote speeches are intended to provide an introductory overview of specific topics in the areas of Machine Learning and Data Management, as well as the possible societal impact and ethical considerations of using or not using Artificial Intelligence in the context of ecological sustainability.
IN-DEPTH SESSIONS: Subject-specific topics will be addressed in in-depth sessions and workshops: Participants will be divided into three parallel sessions according to their field of interest: Machine Learning, Data Management, or societal impact of Machine Learning and Data Management.
GROUP WORK: Further, the program offers the possibility to work in groups on practical sustainability problems. The groups will be composed of students from different backgrounds to look at the given situation from different angles. The group work will be continuously supervised and culminates in a final presentation of the results and individual feedback for the groups. One goal is to draft a short paper, which will be published in an anthology in the Weizenbaum Series.
NETWORKING: Ample time for networking, exchange, and discussions will be provided between the sessions. There will be a good balance between the number of participants and speakers, who will also be available for further discussion.
Keynote Speakers
The three keynote speeches are held by highly recognized scientists and intended to give an introductory overview of specific topics in the area of Machine Learning, Data Management, as well as the possible societal impact of using or not using AI in the context of ecological sustainability, allowing participants from all disciplines to broaden their interdisciplinary skills and understanding.
Prof. Wojciech Samek
Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute & BIFOLD, Berlin, Germany
Keynote: Concept-Level Explainable AI
Prof. Sebastian Schelter
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Keynote: Directions Towards Resource-Efficient Machine Learning Systems in e-Commerce
All Speakers of the BIFOLD Weizenbaum Summer School 2023 are listed here.
Agenda
The BIFOLD Weizenbaum Summer School 2023 will present a variety of formats taking place over five days. In the following, you will find the schedule for each day. Please note that on Tuesday and Wednesday, three content tracks are prepared. Please choose in the registration form which of the tracks you are interested in attending.
| Time | Description | ||
| 10:00 - 11:00 | Registration | ||
| 11:00 - 12:00 | Welcome Speech | ||
| 12:00 - 13:00 | Keynote - AI and society: A sociotechnical perspective | ||
| 13:00 - 14:00 | Lunch | ||
| 14:00 - 16:00 | Introductory session with speed meeting | ||
| 16:00 - 16:30 | Break | ||
| 16:30 - 17:30 | Lecture - Artificial Intelligence and Planetary Boundaries - How can we use AI to improve environmental sustainability? | ||
| 18:00 | Social get together | ||
| Time | Description | ||
| 09:00 - 10:00 | Keynote – Concept-Level Explainable AI | ||
| 10:00 - 10:30 | Break | ||
Parallel Sessions with Lectures, Tutorials and Workshops | |||
Data Management | Machine Learning | Societal Impact | |
| 10:30 - 12:30 | Resource aware ML | XAI 10:30: Prof. Marina Höhne (Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, Potsdam) 11:30: Simon Letzgus (TU Berlin) | AI Capitalism: Critique and Regulation |
| 12:30 - 13:30 | Lunch | ||
| 13:30 - 15:30 | DM for Internet of Things | Efficient ML 13:30: Dennis Grinwald (BIFOLD) & Philipp Wiesner (TU Berlin) | AI Capitalism: Critique and Regulation |
| 15:30 - 16:00 | Break | ||
| 16:00 - 18:00 | Group work | ||
| Time | Description | ||
| 09:00 - 10:00 | Keynote – Directions Towards Resource-Efficient Machine Learning Systems in e-Commerce | ||
| 10:00 - 10:30 | Break | ||
Parallel Sessions with Lectures, Tutorials and Workshops | |||
Data Management | Machine Learning | Societal Impact | |
| 10:30 - 12:30 | DM & ML for Earth observation | Generative Modelling 10:30: Jonas Köhler (Microsoft Research AI4Science) 11:30: Niklas Gebauer (BIFOLD) | Conscience Bytes - ethical case studies in computer science |
| 12:30 - 13:30 | Lunch | ||
| 13:30 - 15:30 | Urban Sustainability | Quantum Chemistry | Conscience Bytes - ethical case studies in computer science |
| 15:30 - 16:00 | Break | ||
| 16:00 - 18:00 | Group work | ||
| Time | Description | ||
| 09:00 - 10:00 | Online Talk /w Q&A - A political perspecitve on Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability | ||
| 10:00 - 10:30 | Break | ||
| 10:30 - 11:30 | Lecture - AI as techno fix? Technological solutionism - and its alternatives | ||
| 11:30 - 12:30 | Lecture - Sustainable AI and the impacts of socio-technical AI systems | ||
| 12:30 - 13:30 | Lunch | ||
| 13:30 - 15:30 | Group work | ||
| 15:30 - 16:00 | Break | ||
| 16:00 - 18:00 | Group work | ||
| Time | Description | ||
| 09:00 - 10:30 | Group presentations with feedback | ||
| 10:30 - 11:00 | Break | ||
| 11:00 - 12:00 | Group presentations with feedback | ||
| 12:00 - 12:30 | Wrap-up session | ||
| 12:30 - 13:00 | Lunch | ||
| 13:00 | Departure to Climate Strike | ||
ORGANISATIONAL DETAILS
Participants are expected to attend the entire program.
Duration: Arrival is on Monday, 11 September 2023. Departure is on Friday, 15 September 2023.
Application deadline: extended to 23 July 2023
Fees: Participants are expected to pay for their individual travel and accommodation expenses.
Accommodation: For external participants, we have pre-reserved rooms at Hotel Schöneberg (https://hotel-schoeneberg.de/), which is located within 10 minutes walking distance to the EUREF Campus.
Participants are responsible to book their own rooms individually until 07 August 2023. Please mention the keyword «BIFOLD» in order to benefit from the pre-reservation. The rooms need to be paid by the participants.
Child care: Please get in touch with us in case you need child care.
Contact: Dr. Tina Schwabe, gsapplication@bifold.tu-berlin.de
Organizers: BIFOLD Graduate School and the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society – the German Internet Institute, Research group: Digitalization, Sustainability, and Participation
Venue: EUREF Campus, in the very center of Berlin, with many possibilities for relaxation and outdoor activities nearby
Address: TU-Campus EUREF, EUREF-Campus 9, 10829 Berlin-Schöneberg
Directions: The EUREF Campus is located close to the ICE train station Südkreuz and the S-Bahn station Schöneberg. More Details can be found at: https://euref.de/wp-content/uploads/EUREF-Campus_Berlin_Anfahrtbeschreibung_DE.pdf (German)
Campus map: https://euref.de/wp-content/uploads/20230401_EUREF_Campusplan_Allgemein.pdf (German)
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