Research Forum
All welcome!
We would like to cordially invite you to this summer term’s Research Forum. It takes place on intermittent Tuesdays during the semester. All talks take place from 16:15 - 17:45 in S 72 (NW II).
Master's students get credit for attendance. Please make sure you indicate your name on the sheet that will be passed around during the talk.
If you have difficulty accessing the eLearning site (https://elearning.uni-bayreuth.de/course/view.php?id=32952), please let us know (Patricia Rich / Paolo Galeazzi).
Next one
May 23th 2023 I Emanuele Ratti (Linz) I Automated Science, Machine Learning, and Values
Abstract: Dreams of automated science have accompanied the development of modern natural sciences. However, it is difficult to pinpoint a specific conception of automated science. Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning in particular (ML), have been associated to the idea of automated science, suggesting that ML-driven contemporary automated science is just another step towards what science has always promised to fulfil. In this talk, I investigate the relation between ML and automated science. First, I reconstruct and identify two views of automated science. The first, called traditional automated science (TAS), sees science as mechanical, fostering intersubjective agreement, and suppressing scientists' subjectivity. The second view is Paul Humphreys' conception, and it differs from the first because it does minimize the suppression of subjectivity, and it attributes to automated science a non-human epistemic horizon. I compare these two views to ML to see which kind of automated science contemporary AI can possibly foster.
Important information for P&E Students: The speaker will have an informal exchange with us Tuesday morning. Please gather in the philosophy department (GWII) at 10:15, close to Prof. Kästner's office (room 01.24). After coffee, the speaker will move with us to RWI, S64, for a career chat focused on peer review.
Subsequent Talks
June 13th 2023 I Matthias Brinkmann (LMU) I Joint Talk: What, if anything, is morally wrong with inflation?
June 14th 2023 I Dean Lueck (Indiana) I Joint Talk: The Institutional Legacy of the Mexican Rancho System in California
July 04th 2023 I Zoey Lavallee (CRÉ Montreal/McGill) I How emotion regulation is “hijacked” in addiction
July 11th 2023 I Chiara Lisciandra (LMU) I tba
Preceding Talks
- April 18th 2023 I Maren Behrensen (Twente) I Dragging Ontology back into Politics: Transphobia, Moral Panics, and Populism
- May 16th 2023 I Alessandro Galeazzi (Brescia) I The Evolution of Polarization in Twitter Debates: The Cases of U.S. Presidential Election and Climate Change
Abstract: The public sphere is a complex environment where diverse ideas are discussed and contribute to shaping public opinion. With the rise of social media, a portion of these debates has shifted online, where communication is faster and disintermediated. Often, online debates around controversial issues become polarized, with two opposing factions clashing over ideological differences. This contrast may lead to an excessive level of polarization that can harm society in various ways, ranging from the risk of political deadlocks to individual and collective violent actions.
Here, we present two studies on polarization in Twitter debates surrounding the U.S. presidential election and climate change. We first introduce the techniques used to study polarization and then we analyze the evolution of the debate over time. Finally, we present some open questions and future research directions. Overall, our findings contribute to the understanding of the role of polarization in online debates and its evolution over time.