Browsing through the ZeMKI’s Research Report 22022/23, it is clear at first glance how much research into communicative AI has arrived at the ZeMKI: various projects on this topic are producing their first results in 2022/23. The automation of communication was the topic of the annual conference of the German Communication Association (DGPuK), which the ZeMKI hosted during the reporting period. Various dissertations are also being written on the subject. The public hype surrounding ChatGPT in particular has shown how great the hopes and fears about this technology are. However, research such as we are conducting at ZeMKI goes beyond such hype to show that the automation of communication is a much more comprehensive, but not simply “disruptive” transformation process, as the tech companies and pioneering communities from Silicon Valley like to suggest.
Many other important topics have shaped the 2022/23 period at ZeMKI, which this research report aims to provide an insight into. In addition to the joint research projects and events, we would like to draw particular attention to the doctoral projects and research-based learning, of which we can only present a small selection here. We also very much enjoyed the time of academic exchange with the ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellows 2023: For four weeks each, Danny Spitzberg (USA), Dr Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández and Dr Tara B. M. Smith (Australia), Prof Dr Luca Rossi (Denmark) and Dr Christoph Günther (Germany) conducted projects in Bremen and contributed their expertise to the collaboration with two ZeMKI labs each.
There are also things that are not included in the articles, but which represent the further development of the ZeMKI in 2022/23: In research, the ZeMKI steering committee set up a third overarching research focus on the topic of “gaming” at its management meeting in the summer. More information can be found on the ZeMKI website. Research on this topic has been taking place in various labs at the ZeMKI for some time – the idea is to give this research the visibility we believe it deserves with this focus.
Another change concerns the degree programmes: this year, we decided to discontinue the MA Media Culture and Globalization after 15 successful years and instead establish a new international MA Media and Public Engagement, which has already been successfully accredited. It is due to start in the winter semester 2024/25 and is primarily aimed at students from Germany and abroad who want to explore the question of ‘What contribution can (digital) media make to the sustainable development of society geared towards the common good’?
However, a visit to our website is not only worthwhile because you can find out more about the new focus and the new Master’s program. The website itself will also change: Shortly after the publication of this research report, our relaunch will go online, which will hopefully enable us to better communicate what we are researching together to the outside world. We are already looking forward to seeing what the launch will be like – and we look forward to receiving feedback from everyone!

We hope you enjoy reading!

The 2022 /2023 research report is available here.