Join a discussion with Vivian Schiller (Aspen Institute) and Joanna Bryson (Hertie School), moderated by Stormy-Annika Mildner (Aspen Institute). This event is hosted by the Centre for Digital Governance in collaboration with the Aspen Institute Germany.
>>> Update 11.04.2022, 19:00 |
The event has been moved online <<<
On February 24, 2022, Russia began an attack on Ukraine. This brutal war, which has since claimed the lives of countless Ukrainian civilians, is being fought not only on the ground but also online. Through leaked drone surveillance, battlefield videos, and other forms of digital communication, this war has become the most internet-accessible war in history. Originally invented to build social networks, social media platforms, such as Twitter or TikTok, are now strategically used by parties to the conflict to report on the latest attacks or territorial defenses. Compared to validated updates by traditional news media, for which it is often too dangerous to report from the battlefields, this information is quickly and continuously accessible online.
As information on the war has become more easily accessible to everyone, serious problems arise. For example, information disseminated by parties to the conflict or civilians is often heavily distorted, strategically placed, or shows only a selected moment in time. While traditional media often use various and complex resources, including so-called OSINT technology, to contextualise the information and images they receive, users now face unfiltered updates. Moreover, parties to the conflict are attempting to suppress news coverage as a whole. Thus, both social media platforms and traditional media in Russia face severe restrictions or even bans if they do not comply with bans on content that Russia considers dangerous.
In light of these new dynamics various new questions and debates arise. Together with our guest Vivian Schiller, Executive Director of Aspen Digital at the Aspen Institute U.S., and Joanna Bryson, Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School, we would like to address this topic in a lively discussion.
This event is organised in partnership with the Aspen Institute Germany.
Speakers
Joanna Bryson is Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School. Her research focuses on the impact of technology on human cooperation, and AI/ICT governance. From 2002-19 she was on the Computer Science faculty at the University of Bath. She has also been affiliated with the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oxford, the School of Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim and the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy. During her PhD she observed the confusion generated by anthropomorphised AI, leading to her first AI ethics publication “Just Another Artifact” in 1998. In 2010, she co-authored the first national-level AI ethics policy, the UK's Principles of Robotics. She holds degrees in psychology and artificial intelligence from the University of Chicago (BA), the University of Edinburgh (MSc and MPhil), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD). Since July 2020, Prof. Bryson has been one of nine experts nominated by Germany to the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence.
Vivian Schiller joined the Aspen Institute in January 2020 as Executive Director of Aspen Digital, which empowers policymakers, civic organizations, companies, and the public to be responsible stewards of technology and media in the service of an informed, just, and equitable world. A longtime executive at the intersection of journalism, media and technology, Schiller has held executive roles at some of the most respected media organizations in the world. Those include: President and CEO of NPR; Global Chair of News at Twitter; General Manager of NYTimes.com; Chief Digital Officer of NBC News; Chief of the Discovery Times Channel, a joint venture of The New York Times and Discovery Communications; and Head of CNN documentary and long form divisions. Documentaries and series produced under her auspices earned multiple honors, including three Peabody Awards, four Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, and dozens of Emmys. Schiller is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; and a Director of the Scott Trust, which owns The Guardian.
