Research Unit "Communicative AI"
ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research
The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) is one of seven central research units at the University of Bremen and is one of the important European institutions researching questions into media-related transformations at the interface of the cultural, social, and technical sciences. Our research focuses on the emerging digital society in terms of the inequalities it generates while probing the historicity of their genesis and the challenges posed by algorithmic systems, automation, and the burgeoning datafied society. ZeMKI coordinates the international „Communicative AI“ research unit.
Investigating how deep mediatization transforms society — at the intersection of culture, communication, and technology.
Exploring how communicative AI reshapes the fabric of societal communication — and what futures it opens and forecloses.
Developing and refining digital methods in context — combining computational approaches with qualitative depth.
News
ZeMKI Research Report 2025/26 Published
23. September 2026
Publication: Communicatio Socialis
22. September 2026
Rieke Böhling at the Children’s University for the German Unity Celebration
21. September 2026
On the Use of Alternative Information Channels – A Conversation with Christian Schwarzenegger in the Weser-Kurier
21. September 2026
Panel discussion on "TIMMY – Die Hope stirbt zuletzt" at Ernst Deutsch Theater Hamburg
18. September 2026
New Article by Christian Schwarzenegger: "In Search of Emotional Comfort Zones"
15. September 2026
New Publication by Christian Schwarzenegger in "Neue Publikation von Christian Schwarzenegger in "Handbuch Medienwirkungsforschung"
15. September 2026
Christian Katzenbach now Editor-In-Chief of New Media & Society
15. September 2026
The labs
Selected reasearch projects
- Active
Governance: Private ordering of ComAI through corporate communication and policies (ComAI P4)
- Duration: 2025 – 2028
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach
- Active
Generative AI & the Creator Economy at the Margins
- Duration: 2026 – 2029
- Project lead: Dr. Vanessa Richter
- Active
Equality, Platform Governance and Wellbeing
- Duration: 2022 – 2025
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach, Dr. Paloma Viejo Otero
- Active
Political discourse: ComAI and deliberative quality (ComAI P6)
- Duration: 2025 – 2028
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann, Dr. Gregor Wiedemann
