The Center for Rhetorical Science Communication Research on Artificial Intelligence (RHET AI) in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Tübingen/Stuttgart (MPI-IS) is organizing an interdisciplinary symposium on the foundations, functionalities, and communicative implications of Generative AI. The symposium will take place on November 12–14, 2024, at the MPI-IS in Tübingen, and the scientific discussion will be accompanied by a public Science Notes event as part of the Science and Innovation Days of the University of Tübingen. In addition to Science Notes, the Tübingen University's Cognitive Science Center is also a cooperation partner.
In Tübingen, we want to discuss and navigate expected changes in communication through the advent of generative AI. We aim to address interdisciplinary questions and problems about the influence of generative AI, its technical and communicative parameters, and possible societal developments. The event will emphasize the role of generative AI as a bridge between theory and practice in AI research and the humanities.
To achieve this, we aim to bring together researchers from a diverse set of disciplines such as machine learning, cognitive science, philosophy of language, rhetoric, linguistics, and media studies with experts from journalism, culture and science communication.
Research and society seem to agree that Generative AI is about to profoundly influence our modes of communication, yet its precise impact remains ambiguous. Is Tristan Harris and Ira Raskin’s (Center of Humane Technology) assertion true that what nuclear weapons were to the physical world, generative AI is to the virtual and symbolic world? Or should we rather aim to rethink the inevitability of AI? Does generative AI genuinely challenge traditional modes, channels, and media of communication, or is it simply a contrivance to bolster the profiles and profits of tech conglomerates? Between the poles of this spectrum, there remains a wide range of interpretations demanding nuanced analysis.
Grasping the full scope of generative AI’s impact is thus critical. As generative AI tools become capable of producing or co-creating it, the very notion of ‘content’ is evolving – leading to debates over authorship, parrotism and copyright. Implications of a rhetorically acting AI that convincingly mimics human output challenge us deeply, sparking discussions about ‘artificial influence’. With such a persuasive AI’s potential to disrupt power dynamics, especially in political arenas, its role in the 2024 global elections—particularly the US election in November—will serve as a critical litmus test.
Rhetorical analysis has long aimed to understand and ethically navigate the biases and motives of communication. Generative AI introduces new problems to this challenge, yet the core issue persists: discerning intent, interests and motivations. As AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated, our rhetorical verification methods must also evolve, particularly to address possible malicious human-AI collaborations.
from 09.00 am | REGISTRATION & COFFEE |
10.00 am | CONFERENCE OPENING Markus Gottschling & Olaf Kramer (Uni Tübingen) |
10.30 am | KEYNOTE Casey Mock (Center for Humane Technology) "Press 0 to Never Speak to an Operator": On Entering an AI-Powered Bureaucratic Labyrinth |
11.45 am | Lunch break |
1.00 pm | THE RHETORICS OF GENERATIVE AI Olaf Kramer & Markus Gottschling (Tübingen) |
PANEL 1 | THEORIES OF GENERATIVE AI |
1.30 pm | Bob Williamson (Tübingen) The Rhetoric of Machine Learning |
2.00 pm | Moritz Hiller (Uni Weimar) There Are No Language Models: Humanism as Strategy |
2.30 pm | Michael Franke (Uni Tübingen) Understanding Language Models: The Japanese Room Argument, or What It’s Like to Be a Language Model |
3.00 pm | Coffee break |
3.30 pm | PROBLEM PITCH I AI & Cognition Martin Butz (Tübingen) AI & Journalism Anna Henschel (Berlin/Tübingen) AI & Science Communication Nina Kalwa (Karlsruhe), Lukas Griessl (Tübingen) & Tobias Kreutzer (Dortmund) |
5.15 pm | PLENARY DISCUSSION: IS AI INEVITABLE? With: Eva Wolfangel, Moritz Hardt (MPI-IS Tübingen), Annette Leßmöllmann (KIT) and Esther Greussing (TU Braunschweig) |
8.00 pm | EVENING PROGRAM |
PANEL 2&3 | AI, POLITICS AND THEIR MEDIA | TOWARDS AI LITERACY |
9.00 am | Melanie Leidecker-Sandmann / Tabea Lüders (KIT) More than Humanoid Robots and Cyborgs? How German Print Media Visualize Articles on Artificial Intelligence | Ole Engel & Elisabeth Mayweg (HU Berlin) Reasoning with Generative Artificial Intelligence |
9.30 am | Erwin Feyersinger (Uni Tübingen) GenAI and the Disruption of Animation Production | Jan Batzner (Weizenbaum-Institut) GermanPartiesQA: Benchmarking Commercial Large Language Model for Political Bias and Sycophancy |
10.00 am | Cornelia Sindermann (Uni Stuttgart) From Public Discourse to Private Echo? The Role of Selective Exposure in Political Interactions with ChatGPT | Charley Wu (Uni Tübingen) The Librarian of Babel |
10.30 am | Coffee break |
11.00 am | PROBLEM PITCH II AI & Public Discourse Elisabeth Mayweg (HU Berlin) / Livia Kucklick (IPN Kiel); Debora Frommeld (OTH Regensburg) AI & Creativity Gero Guttzeit (LMU München) & Antonia Bucka (Uni Tübingen) AI & Rhetoric Shyam Sharma (Stony Brook Uni, New York) & Crystal Colombini (Fordham University) |
12.30 pm | Lunch |
PANEL 4&5 | INCLUSIVE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION | TOWARDS AI LITERACY |
2.00 pm | Petra Ahrweiler (Uni Mainz) AI FORA: Inclusive Science Communication | Christian Sinn (Uni St. Gallen) Generative AI and Professional Ethics in Teacher Education |
2.30 pm | Angelica Lerman Henestrosa (IWM Tübingen) Perceptions of AI-authorship in the Context of Science Communication | Christopher Basgier (Auburn University) Generative AI as Pedagogical Machine |
3.00 pm | Coffee |
3.30 pm | BRIDGING THE GAP Zoltan Majdik (Uni North Dakota, Fargo) A Framework for Rhetorical Audits of Large Language Models |
4.15 pm | KEYNOTE Bernhard Schölkopf (MPI-IS/ELLIS Tübingen) Borges and AI |
9.00 am | KEYNOTE Mike Schäfer (Uni Zürich) Science Communication in the Age of AI |
10.00 am | Coffee |
PANEL 6 | RHETORICAL CONCEPTS OF GENERATIVE AI |
10.30 am | Rebecca Ottman (Texas A&M Uni, Galveston) Mythical Intelligence: Generative AI and Rhetorical Metalanguage |
11.00 am | Roger Thompson (Stony Brook Uni, New York) AI as Puff Pastry: On Defining Rhetoric in the Age of Artificial Intelligence |
11.30 pm | Fabian Erhardt (Uni Tübingen) Algorithmic Persuasion as Metacognitive Persuasion |
12.00 pm | CLOSING REMARKS Markus Gottschling & Olaf Kramer (Uni Tübingen) |
12.30 pm | Lunch Snack |
7.00 pm | SCIENCE NOTES: BESSER STREITEN (ARGUING BETTER) With: |
The symposium will take place at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen. You can find general information on how to get to Tübingen here.
The Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems is located at Max-Planck-Ring 4, 72076 Tübingen.
Here is a list of hotels in Tübingen across various price categories. For a complete overview, please click here (in German). Please note: No hotel rooms have been reserved, so kindly make your own arrangements.
Koncept Hotel Neue Horizonte
Horemer 16, Tübingen
Tel. +49 (0)7071 1450070
Info: New boutique hotel, close to conference venue
ibis styles Tübingen
Friedrichstrasse 20, Tübingen
Tel. +49 (0)7071–75880
Info: Major hotel chain, close to station and the Neckar
Hotel Domizil
Wöhrdstraße 5–9, Tübingen
Tel. +49 (0)7071 1390
Info: Upscale boutique hotel, beautiful Neckar view, close to old town
Hotel am Schloss
Burgsteige 18, Tübingen
Tel. +49 (0)7071–92940
Info: Small boutique hotel close to Tübingen Castle, in the heart of the old town
Hotel Metropol
Reutlinger Str. 7, Tübingen
Tel. +49 (0)7071 91010
Info: Affordable, rather simple accommodation, close to station
Hotel Katharina Garni
Lessingweg 2, Tübingen
Tel. +49 (0)7071 96500
Info: Affordable, rather simple accommodation, close to conference venue
Hotel Restaurant Meteora
Weizsäckerstraße 1, Tübingen
Tel. +49 (0)7071 9709020
Info: Affordable, rather simple accommodation
We invite scholars and practitioners to participate in the symposium with submissions for one of two formats, individual papers and problems for small group discussions.
Key topics
Other topics regarding the intersections of Machine Learning and Communication, Rhetoric and Generative AI are welcome.
Paper submissions
Abstracts of individual papers (30 minutes including discussion) should contain the title and a summary of the paper of maximally 250 words along with the name of the speaker and full contact address (including email address).
Problem pitch submissions
At the symposium we want to create space to discuss your problems related to the implications of generative AI for research and communication. Such problems can be conceptualized in a variety of ways (inter-/transdisciplinary, theoretical, practical…) and should be posed with the aim of deliberation, consultation, and matchmaking for possible solutions. You will be able to present your problem in small groups through short pitches (1–2 min), ideally accompanied by material for the discussion participants. Problems should be submitted in no more than 100 words, with the submitter's name and full contact information (including email address).
Deadline for abstracts and problems: June 19, 2024
Notification of acceptance: Early July 2024
Center for Rhetorical Science Communication Research on Artificial Intelligence (RHET AI)
Speaker
Prof. Dr. Olaf Kramer
olaf.kramer@uni-tuebingen.de
Project Coordination
Dr. Markus Gottschling
markus.gottschling@uni-tuebingen.de
University of Tübingen
Rhetoric Department
Wilhelmstr. 50
72074 Tübingen