Discussion Papers

This paper outlines principles for academic data work requesters, developed during the “Ethics of Data Work” project at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin. In two workshops held in late 2024, an interdisciplinary group of scholars, practitioners, and data workers explored how to create equitable, sustainable systems for data work.

This policy brief is based on findings from the research project Generative AI in the World of Work (GENKIA). It discusses how the global race for artificial intelligence exacerbates power and resource inequalities, prioritizes the profit interests of major tech corporations, and remains largely beyond democratic oversight.

Dieser Policy Brief basiert auf Ergebnissen des Forschungsprojekts Generative KI in der Arbeitswelt (GENKIA). Die Autor:innen diskutieren, wie der globale Wettlauf um Künstliche Intelligenz Macht- und Ressourcenungleichheiten verschärft, die Profitinteressen großer Tech-Konzerne priorisiert und bislang einer demokratischen Kontrolle entzogen bleibt.

This paper explores recent shifts in the content moderation practices of leading social media companies. It aims to stimulate future research and public discussion by providing valuable insights into the potential implications of the current situation for Germany and the European Union.

This paper presents the findings of the research project “Automatization, digitalization and virtualization of work in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis.” The analysis shows that the pandemic acted as a catalyst for digitalization, with management awareness and employee acceptance being significant drivers.

Dokumentation zur Konferenz „Triggerpunkte: Anstöße für die politische Kommunikationsforschung“ mit Steffen Mau, Thomas Lux und Julian Heide, Weizenbaum-Institut, Berlin, 28. Juni 2024.

The proliferation of generative AI applications (GAI) in the workplace has prompted considerable speculation regarding the future of work. In this paper, we examine the relationship between GAI and work, drawing on theoretical considerations and preliminary empirical insights. Our theses also function as hypotheses for the research project GENKIA, wherein we investigate the transformations in work across programming, journalism, marketing, human resource management, and public administration.

Die Verbreitung von generativen KI-Anwendungen (GKI) in der Arbeitswelt führt zu weitläufigen Spekulationen über die Zukunft der Arbeit. In diesem Policy Brief formulieren wir auf Grundlage theoretischer Überlegungen und erster empirischer Eindrücke Thesen über das Verhältnis von GKI und Arbeit, die zugleich als Hypothesen des Forschungsprojekts GENKIA dienen, in denen wir die Veränderungen von Arbeit in Programmierung, Journalismus, Marketing, Personalmanagement und öffentlicher Verwaltung empirisch untersuchen.

Interdisziplinäre Forschung (IDR) gilt in Themengebieten wie der digitalen Transformation als Schlüssel zur Lösung komplexer gesellschaftlicher Probleme. Es fehlt eine systematische Evaluation der Qualität erfolgreicher IDR-Teams, um Lernprozesse zu fördern und interdisziplinäre Karrierewege besser als bisher zu fördern. Diese Lücke wollen die Autor:innen am Beispiel des interdisziplinären Feldes der Digitalisierungsforschung füllen.

Viele Unternehmen experimentieren zwar mit KI, bei der Ausbildung von Fachkräften mangelt es jedoch. Die neue Technologie findet eine bessere Akzeptanz, wenn Betriebsräte eingebunden werden. Oft fehlen diesen jedoch Ressourcen und Expertise, um sich mit der Technologie auseinanderzusetzen. Die Studie „KI in der Arbeitswelt“ wurde von der Forschungsgruppe „Arbeiten mit Künstlicher Intelligenz“ am Weizenbaum-Institut durchgeführt.

This report examines the potential impact of Generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as ChatGPT, on the future of work and, by implication, on productivity. It argues that although Generative AI is powerful, it has significant limitations and risks that require humans to remain “in the loop” not only to prevent systems from going off the rails, but to capture value.

This contribution argues for a shift in the paradigms by which we assess the impact of automation on work. Using short case studies on work in logistics, industry and care, the implementation of digital technology is shown to be partly motivated by the labour market situation – automation technologies are introduced to mitigate labour shortages. However, the case studies also illustrate the exuberant expectations about the effects of digitalisation in this respect. While the narratives behind the introduction of digital technologies are heavily shaped by the motivation to combat labour shortages, the actual technologies are barely equipped to do so. Conflicts about the (relief from) an excessive burden at work begin to take on centre stage in industrial relations.

Wearables (z.B. Datenbrillen und Smartwatches) sind ein besonders sichtbares, aber auch umstrittenes Element von Industrie-4.0-Anwendungen. Sie versprechen eine Verbesserung der Arbeitsqualität durch Unterstützung von Beschäftigten, bergen zugleich aber auch Gefahren der Rationalisierung und vor allem Überwachung von Arbeitsprozessen. In dieser Studie wird untersucht, unter welchen Bedingungen Betriebsräte und Beschäftigte den Einsatz von Wearables im Betrieb akzeptieren. Konzeptionell baut die Analyse auf Forschung über die Rolle von Betriebsräten in Digitalisierungsprozessen sowie dem Technology Acceptance Model auf.

Diese Studie skizziert auf der Grundlage qualitativer und quantitativer Forschung in 540 Betrieben, welche Technologien und Anwendungen im Zuge der Pandemie in Unternehmen an Bedeutung gewonnen haben und welche Ressourcen ihnen bei der Digitalisierung zugutekamen. Die Pandemie hat v.a. die Virtualisierung von Kommunikation und Interaktion in Betrieben vorangetrieben, während sie auf Automatisierungsprozesse wenig unmittelbaren Einfluss hatte. Insbesondere verstärkte sie die Kluft zwischen Digitalisierungsvorreiter:innen und -nachzügler:innen. Abschließend formuliert die Studie Handlungsempfehlungen an Politik und Gesellschaft.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prominence of last-mile delivery workers in German cities underscored the widespread adoption of platform-based service provision. The platform economy surged from 3bn EUR in 2016 to 14bn EUR in 2020. COVID-19 posed challenges for both platform companies and workers, with heightened health risks for delivery and mobility workers. Understanding the pandemic's impact on the platform economy is crucial for shaping fair working conditions and a resilient economy post-pandemic.

Recent technology advancements offer older adults opportunities for enhanced healthcare monitoring, remote consultations, and social connectivity, transforming aging in place. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of these technologies, emphasizing the importance of remote healthcare and communication for seniors. Initiatives like California's WelbeHealth Program demonstrate adaptable models of elderly care, providing flexibility and responsiveness to meet seniors' needs.

This study is dedicated to the interdependencies between digital sovereignty and sustainable digitalization, which need to be explicitly linked to an increasing degree in political discourse, academia, and societal debates. Digital skills are the prerequisites for shaping digitalization in the interest of society and sustainable development.

This discussion paper investigates two questions: To what extend can Tesla be regarded as a digital firm, and do we – as a result – see elements of a distinct “Tesla production system”? Although it might be exaggerated to speak of a distinct “Tesla Production system”, indications for a considerable and possibly enduring alteration of Lean Production paradigm can be determined.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seemingly reinforced the need for geographic restructuring and a rehoring of production, as it has demonstrated the vulnerability of globalized production. This article provides an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the geographies of production, looking particularly at developments in the automotive, electronics, and clothing industries.

We examine the technical background of artificial intelligence and machine learning from an interdisciplinary perspective and aim to develop common definitions that can be used for further research in legal academia. These findings provide a common starting point for a more differentiated treatment of legal (and technical) questions surrounding artificial intelligence and machine learning and allow legal academia to make reliable legal statements as well as to advance legal research in this field.

The shift to remote work poses particular challenges for teamwork. It makes spontaneous and informal communication more difficult and may weaken social relations in teams. This study based on an online survey of 1,516 individuals who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic examines the functioning of teamwork in remote-work contexts and attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What organizational and technical working conditions influence working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) How did collaboration in different forms of teamwork evolve under working-fromhome conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic? (3) What effects of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic can be observed in terms of teamwork productivity?

Die Umstellung auf Homeoffice während der COVID-19-Pandemie war eine Herausforderung für Teams. Die sozialen Kontakte und die Vielzahl informeller Begegnungen und Kommunikationsströme nahmen ab, die Interaktion fand vor allem virtuell statt und erforderte neue Kommunikationsmuster. In der vorliegenden, auf einer Befragung von 1.516 Erwerbstätigen beruhenden, Studie wurde untersucht (1) welche organisatorischen, aber auch technischen Bedingungen die Arbeit im Homeoffice während der COVID-19-Pandemie prägen, (2) wie sich die Zusammenarbeit in unterschiedlichen Formen der Teamarbeit unter den Bedingungen des Homeoffice während der COVID-19-Pandemie entwickelt hat und (3) welche Auswirkungen des Homeoffice sich während der COVID-19-Pandemie im Hinblick auf die Produktivität der Teamarbeit beobachten lassen.

Blockchain-based systems are enjoying unbroken popularity. Different economic and social actors are investigating their application for fostering decentralization and separation of power. In this overview article, after a short review of the Bitcoin approach and possible alternatives to it, we introduce the ideas behind federated blockchain systems and discuss their impact on future blockchain systems.

The COVID 19 crisis has had a massive impact on the world of work. Based on a standardized survey of 540 company sites and 34 qualitative case studies in six industries (automotive, chemicals, mechanical engineering, logistics, healthcare and financial services), this study examines how companies’ digitalization and automation strategies have changed in the context of the pandemic.

Die COVID-19-Krise hat massiven Einfluss auf die Arbeitswelt. Basierend auf einer standardisierten Befragung von 540 Betrieben und 34 qualitativen Fallstudien in sechs Branchen (Automobil, Chemie, Maschinenbau, Logistik, Gesundheit und Finanzdienstleistungen) untersucht die vorliegende Studie, wie sich im Kontext der Pandemie die Digitalisierungs- und Automatisierungsstrategien von Unternehmen verändert haben.

We explore the impact of automation and digitalization on labor in the US agrifood system during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study considers each of the primary nodes in the system stretching from consumer through grocery stores and restaurants to last-mile delivery, distribution, food processing, farming, and agri-inputs. Not only automation and digitalization, but also the role of platforms such as Amazon, and food delivery firms such as GrubHub, Instacart, and Uber Eats are discussed.

The unprecedented rise of startups such as Google or Amazon has spurred an ongoing debate on the conceptualization of the corporate model these firms represent. Thus far, attention has centered on the analysis of their product and market strategies highlighting their platform nature as common feature and its defining characteristic. Against this background, the article seeks to contribute to the debate by analyzing the inner mode of production as an essential component of their corporate model. The second nature of online platform firms, it is argued, is that they are tech companies. Building on this, the article aims to reconstruct how as tech companies they have learned and perfected to continuously develop and operate the Internet applications that power their online platforms at global scale.

We are currently witnessing a fundamental structural transformation of the scientific public sphere, characterized by processes of specialization, metrification, internationalization, platformization, and visibilization. In contrast to explanations of this structural transformation that invoke a technological determinism, we demonstrate its historical contingency by drawing on analytic concepts from organization theory and the case of the Open Access transformation in Germany.

Just like all types of media use, mobile media use is usually measured using retrospective, self-reported indications of quanitity in the form of duration and frequency. This is not only problematic due to the fact that people misjudge their own use to a great extent, but also because theoretical approaches predominantly suggest that mere contact is not sufficient for the description of media use. In this paper, I am proposing a renewed, multidimensional measure of mobile media use that takes into account these characteristics in addition to well-known measures of quantity and suggest methods for assessing its convergent and content validity.

This article explores the position of industrial internet platforms (IIP) in manufacturing value chains. We develop an understanding of the role of data in global value chains (GVCs), referring to literature on intangible assets and theories on platform business models. We use data from a qualitative empirical study based on 45 interviews on platforms active on the German market to answer (1) whether there are tendencies of oligopolization that lead to an accumulation of power on the side of the platforms, and (2) whether it is the platforms that capture most of the gains derived from higher productivity or lower transaction costs.

This Position Paper contains statements drafted by several Research Groups at the Weizenbaum Institute concerning the Data Governance Act (DGA) Proposal. Each statement is followed by a short explanation. The purpose of this Paper is to highlight a number of important aspects of the DGA Proposal and stimulate the debate around it with a special emphasis on the part that concerns regulation of data sharing services

The call for free access to research data and materials is becoming louder and louder from the political and scientific communities in Germany. More and more researchers are facing demands to open up qualitative research data for scientific purposes. They often have a general interest in sharing their data, but are unsure how to proceed. This handout was developed to provide an initial introduction to opening and sharing qualitative data.

Es gibt Anhaltspunkte dafür, dass die durch die COVID-19-Pandemie ausgelöste Krise zu strukturellen Veränderungen der Arbeitswelt geführt hat, die in engem Zusammenhang mit Digitalisierungsprozessen stehen. Einige Veränderungen sind in industriellen Produktionsprozessen, der mobilen Arbeit und auch der Plattformarbeit zu erwarten. Damit solche Veränderungen sich positiv auf die Arbeitswelt auswirken ist politische Gestaltung gefragt.

Volker Stocker, Jason Whalley

Sebastian Berg, Niklas Rakowski, Thorsten Thiel

Eine explorative Untersuchung der Online-Konsultation zur Blockchain-Strategie der Bundesregierung

Ferdinand Müller, Martin Schüßler und Elsa Kirchner

A Brief History from the Early 1990s Until 2018

Ergebnisse eines Workshops der Forschungsgruppe „Digitalisierung der Wissenschaft“

Our findings highlight essential aspects where existing platforms, practitioners, educators, and funders, as well as researchers with interest in cross-border collaboration can take action to develop the practice of cross-border collaborative journalism further and to enhance our understanding of its effects.

Not all the ostensibly free contents, services and products offered in digital form over the internet are an expression of sheer gratuitousness. Very often, traders monetise data and contents that are being provided and generated over the course of using the content or service instead of charging money for that use. One key question is whether such arrangements constitute a valid contract where the user’s counter-performance is reduced to merely providing data. Should that be the case, the next questions are what kind of a contract this is and whether the user may benefit from consumer protection law with respect to the digital contents or services even though she did not pay any price for it.

The recent refugee movements to Europe occur in the digital age. While there is a common perception that ‘every refugee carries a smartphone’, research on this new phenomenon is limited. To fill this academic gap, we have conducted a representative survey of more than 400 refugees living in Berlin which provides insight into the use of digital media in preparation for and during forced migration. We also asked whether digital media shaped images of and expectations about the refugees’ target country Germany.

Digitale Systeme stehen im Mittelpunkt aktueller rechtlicher und politischer Diskussionen. Stichworte wie Künstliche Intelligenz oder Autonomie werden dabei nicht immer einheitlich verwendet. Dieser Beitrag möchte die wichtigsten Begriffe klären und einen Überblick über die entscheidenden aktuellen Entwicklungen im Bereich der Informationstechnologie geben. Er ist aus dem Blickwinkel eines Juristen geschrieben, beschäftigt sich aber nur mit den technischen Aspekten.

We test the mediating effect of media use on the effects of citizenship norms - shared ideas of what a good citizen is - on political participation. We do so by comparing France and Finland, two countries with distinct media trust levels. Results support the notion that Internet use works as a selective catalyst of political participation, as it is enhanced merely by engaged citizenship norms but not by dutiful citizenship norms. Within the nexus of citizenship norms, media use, and political participation, this article contributes to a better understanding of the normative premises for the Internet use to promote political engagement within differing media contexts.