This smart city is vibrant. The Internet of Things, which brings it to life, offers its residents numerous conveniences. But what happens when all decisions in the digital city are made by machines? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using artificial intelligence, and who assumes responsibility for what in the smartly controlled city? In the life comics "Smarttown" and "James 004," participants of the seminar "If then else – new developments and opportunities in the programmed society" processed their research and discussions on these topics and presented them to guests.
Insights into the work of this and the three other workshop groups SBlack and white photography, video and the maker workshop offer many media that have emerged from the exploration of media and digitalization: From June 11th to 16th, 2018, trainees for the position of Media and Information Services Specialist presented themselves Louise-Schroeder-School/Berlin and the Vocational School Anckelmannstraße/Hamburg Different questions about the present and future of a society in which algorithms and programs are increasingly permeating all areas of life.
The maker workshop also addressed questions about the smart city, conducted research on the topic, and experimented with algorithms themselves, for example, by having the participants... Calliope boards programmed. With the help of MakeyMakeys and the open source programming language Skratch built the Maker workshop group interactive posters and a interactive quiz, which addresses issues of digitalization.
An interactive poster addressed critical questions about the Smart City, e.g., regarding...
- Analog life – a thing of the past? Is urban quality of life being lost? Is offline life becoming unattractive and too expensive for the socially disadvantaged? Human interaction and individual perspectives cannot be replaced by machines.
- Surveillance: Total networking in the smart city? Where does freedom fit in? Are we becoming ever more transparent while data flows become increasingly opaque?
- Inequality – smart governance as a future weak point of democracy? Poor infrastructure and high costs – rural exodus and social inequality? Conflicts in society as a whole?
A second interactive poster, featuring a self-programmed animation, showcased new development opportunities through digitalization – from convenient money transfers to comprehensive smart mobility. (Documentation will be added later.)
The role of daily interaction with smart devices on perception, behavior, and actions was a topic in the Black and white photography workshop. The work "Sichtwandel" (Sight Shift) attempts to compare perceptions and behavioral patterns of earlier times with today's digitized everyday life, capturing the difference, for example, in the image of the protagonist knocking on the door next to the protagonist texting, both announcing their arrival. The photo series "Von Klasse zu Masse" (From Class to Mass) also addresses developments, in this case from the history of photography, from the photograph as an elaborately created unique piece to the digital mass-produced image/snapshot. The series "Entzug" (Withdrawal) questions the omnipresence of digital devices and their influence on life. Their constant use, among other things for self-presentation, is addressed in "Fake Laugh." Against the backdrop of camera technologies that, according to programmed specifications, determine the trigger moment for the photograph itself, the series raises questions about authenticity and staging, about substantive depth and superficial poses in digital society. "blickBruch" (Breach of Perspective) plays with the expectations of the viewer and the mixture of digital and analog techniques that give rise to new realities.
Fake news and hate speech were the focus of the substantive debate in the Video workshop. An interesting Skype interview with Gilda Sahebi, political scientist and journalist, was part of the research. She spoke, among other things, about... No-hate speech campaign against online hate speech, which is promoted in Germany by the Council of Europe. New German media makers is coordinated. From their research and discussions, the participants of the video workshop developed their own storyboard and implemented it: "Whip in a Bind".
Further photos provide even more insights into the collaborative work and leisure activities of this intensive seminar week.
The seminar took place as part of the collaboration in the program „Civic youth education in the AdB“ in the project group „Digital Media and Democracy“ instead of
The wannseeFORUM Foundation is a recognized sponsor of the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
