Insights

The research project on combating propaganda and disinformation in digital media has been successfully completed. As part of the project, the browser extension Apollolytics was developed to help users recognize and critically evaluate propagandistic content in online news. The tool uses large language models (LLMs) to identify propaganda techniques and… Read More »Project closure Apollolytics: Automated Propaganda Detection in the Browser

A vast majority of media professionals in Switzerland use AI tools in their day-to-day work but do so mostly to support their tasks rather than produce content, according to a study by the University of Zurich. They are rather ambivalent in their assessment of the impact of AI tools on… Read More »Clear Majority of Swiss Media Professionals Use AI Tools – But Have Reservations

Playful didactics in university teaching What happens when a goat suddenly appears in a Zoom call? How can a dice bring new ideas to a seminar? And what exactly is the difference between ludic didactics, gamification, and playification? In this episode of Schampar digital, we talk to Mela Kocher, lecturer… Read More »Level up for learning

Not all forms of gainful employment appear in official statistics. Especially where working conditions are precarious or wages are barely enough to live on, those affected often remain invisible to the public. In this interview, Karin Schwiter, professor of labor geography at the University of Zurich, talks about how she… Read More »Making the invisible visible

At the “Talk im Turm,” Felix K. Maier and Roland Meyer discussed how artificial intelligence shapes historical images, from academic research to pop culture and political staging. Elon Musk in pseudo-Roman armor: At the Talk in the Tower, historian Felix K. Maier (second from left) and image scientist Roland Meyer… Read More »Fake or fact: How AI is changing our view of history

New paper published in «International Journal of Technoethics» DSI researcher Dr. Ning Wang published a new paper on a study that analyzed experts’ perspectives regarding public acceptance of urban drones in the Swiss context. DSI reseacher Dr. Ning Wang published the paper «“Trusting the Sky!”: Expert Perceptions Regarding Public Acceptance of Urban Drones»… Read More »Trusting the sky!

The fifth Strategy Lab of the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) focussed on the future of quantum technology. The results have been summarised in a position paper that provides realistic assessments of expected technical developments and reflects on the potential impact on society. A column on the topic was also published.… Read More »DSI Strategy Lab: A Future with Quantum Computing

With the “Re-Experiencing History” platform, researchers at the University of Zurich are developing an innovative way to realistically visualize ancient scenes using artificial intelligence. The project combines ancient history and computational linguistics and creates images based on research literature and ancient sources – as a supplement to research, teaching and… Read More »Re-Experiencing History

The DSI Infrastructures & Labs are shared platforms and structural vessels for creating collaborative research environments for digital transformation. Four new projects were selected for funding as part of this year’s call: DAVALab – Digital Audio-Visual Annotation Lab  ELIAS – an Agentic Interview Service  OpenOSR – General-Purpose Open-Source Tools for… Read More »Four new DSI Infrastructures & Labs

The latest Swiss Smart City Survey 2024 shows that smaller cities in particular are increasingly investing in smart solutions and seeking to catch up with the digital transformation. The focus is on digitalization, sustainability, citizen centricity, co-creation and participation. In total, cities and municipalities registered 403 projects in the six… Read More »Swiss Smart City Survey 2024: Small cities are increasingly focusing on smart solutions