Author: Asyana Eka PutriEditor: Hosea Immanuel Latumahina

Daniela Jaramillo-Dent wins Best Seminar Award for outstanding teaching

Generative AI is Taking Over Everyday Life in Switzerland: From Experimentation to Regular Use

New publications on techno-religion, human augmentation technologies, internet use in Switzerland

“Artificial Intelligence” in Switzerland 2024: Rapid Diffusion and Increasing Digital Inequality

Vortragsreihe: Wie Digitalisierung und Künstliche Intelligenz unsere Gesellschaft verändern

Michael Reiss successfully defended his cumulative dissertation  

Two Awards at SACM 2025 for the Media Change and Innovation Division

Internet Use as Everyday Religion on the Rise, Cyborgization Still in its Early Stages

Kiran Kappeler successfully defended her dissertation

New publications on Transhumanist Anthropocene, Content Creators and Chilling Effects

Friday June 26 we organized a Creative Resistance Against AI Assembly during the INC Exit Fest. Some of you were there. It was hot, it started a bit too late, we might not have properly invited everyone, and honestly: we pretty much improvised on the spot because of the circumstances. But we loved to do it, we met some great people, and we want to just share with you that it happened and that it will happen again later!

In the first week of July, PhD candidates, practicing lawyers and civil society participants set course for Amsterdam to attend IViR’s annual Summer Courses on International Copyright and Policy and European Platform Regulation.
The post Successful Summer Courses on International Copyright and Policy and European Platform Regulation appeared first on IVIR.

Das Kindergeld soll in Deutschland künftig automatisch nach der Geburt eines Kindes ausbezahlt werden, ohne dass die Eltern dafür einen Antrag stellen müssen. Das hat der Bundestag auf seiner Sitzung am 9. Juli 2026 beschlossen. In Kraft treten soll das Gesetz zum 1. Januar 2027.
Konkret bedeutet dies: Nach der Geburt eines Kindes informiert das Standesamt in Zukunft automatisch das Bundeszentralamt für Steuern und dieses wiederum die Familienkasse. Die überweist dann ohne weiteres Antragsverfahren das Kindergeld an die Eltern.

The EU’s AI Regulation, or “AI Act,” will gradually come into effect starting in early 2025 and already regulates the development and use of AI systems intended for use in Europe. With this comprehensive set of regulations, lawmakers are facing a major challenge. The impact of AI technologies—which are driving massive transformations across national borders—is to be managed through democratic processes to the extent that major risks can be identified and avoided.

With the AI Act, European lawmakers are attempting a difficult balancing act: On the one hand, effective regulation is needed for high-risk, emerging technologies that are already having significant societal impacts today. On the other hand, Europe should participate in the opportunities presented by these very technological developments—in other words, it should not simply slow them down, but rather shape them.

E-bikes are a key element of the transportation transition and, especially for many commuters, a real alternative to cars. Of course, e-bikes are significantly more expensive to purchase than a traditional bicycle. So it’s no wonder that the first digital application for e-bikes was designed to prevent theft. But with motion and sensor data, there’s much more that can be done with bicycles—even those without motors.

It’s not unusual to be online all day. Many aspects of our daily lives—from communication, shopping, and signing contracts to entertainment and gathering information—naturally take place on the internet, often even on a single device: the smartphone, which seems to combine an endless array of applications and possibilities.

What we generally refer to as “artificial intelligence” in everyday life has many modes of operation and fields of application. A wide variety of AI systems have also been used routinely in medicine for a long time. They support medical professionals in taking medical histories and making diagnoses, or in the operating room, by supplementing the individual expertise and experience of human experts with statistical analyses and—based on these—recommendations for action.

In mid-June, the Digitalisation Working Group of the Federation of Austrian Industries in Carinthia met with researchers at the University of Klagenfurt for an AI deep dive.