Annual ZeMKI Conference: "When Machines Join the Conversation: Empirical Findings on 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
Science Goes Public: ZeMKI Member Dr. Rieke Böhling Guest at Gastfeld
17. October 2026
ZeMKI anniversary conference - When Machines Join the Conversation: Empirical Findings on Communicative AI
- Datum: 12. November 2026 – 13. November 2026
- Location: Haus der Wissenschaft Bremen
In collaboration with the ComAI research group, ZeMKI is hosting its 2026 annual conference to promote thematic networking within the German AI research community: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and similar systems no longer just mediate communication. They take part in it themselves: they write texts, hold conversations and act as counterparts. What does this mean for (…)
16. October 2026
Policy Paper Religion in the Pandemic: Recommendations for the European Commission’s Dialogue
12. October 2026
Program Symposium Religion, Society and Media
6. October 2026
ZeMKI Media Talk with Aron Boks
- Datum: 12. November 2026
- Location: 28359 Bremen, DE
5. October 2026
Dr. Roy Karadag (Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS), University of Bremen) Public Radio and Scientific Authority: Deutschlandfunk, October 7th and the Gaza War
- Datum: 9. December 2026
- Location: 28359 Bremen, DE
Abstract: How did Deutschlandfunk cover the beginnings of the Gaza War? What kinds of portrayals of violence prevailed, and which frameworks for understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were dominant in this time? This lecture focuses in particular on the role of scholars of Middle East politics and their scientific authority in the German public sphere. Who (…)
5. October 2026
Call for Papers for a Special Issue in Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft (M&K)
1. October 2026
ZeMKI-Members on the 43rd Congress of the German Sociological Association (DGS)
1. October 2026
The labs
Selected reasearch projects
- Active
ComAI Research Space (ComAI coordination project)
- Duration: 2025 – 2028
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp, Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach, Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen, Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann, Dr. Gregor Wiedemann
- Active
Political Polarization and individualized online Information Environments: A longitudinal Tracking Study (POLTRACK)
- Duration: 2022 – 2025
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann
- Active
molo.news: Research Network Tests Bremen News App
- Duration: 2023 – 2026
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp, Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen , Prof. Dr. Christian Pentzold
