The Design Research Lab is a network of people, organisations, and non-human agents engaged at the intersection of technologies, materials, and social practices. Our aim is to design socially and ecologically sustainable tools, spaces, and knowledge that support people’s participation in a digital society – based on common principles of inclusiveness and respect for the planet. This puts the basic democratic right to take part in the digital sphere into practice. We start our research from individual lifeworlds and the needs of minoritized groups, beyond consumer majorities.
We are an interdisciplinary team of designers, researchers, tech-enthusiasts and critical thinkers from Berlin University of the Arts, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, as well as Einsteincenter Digital Future (ECDF).
How does machine learning actually work? The mythical term machine learning and the even more intimidating term artificial intelligence, both refer to a quite broad set of technologies that function in similar ways. In this short seminar, you will learn about the surprisingly simple underlying principles and get hands-on with the topic. Besides spending time on the technical foundation and experimenting, we will discuss the societal aspects of machine learning and the relationship between design and high-tech in a more general context, and how designers can approach such technologically complex topics. You will learn all you need to start your own inquiry into the subject. All skills will be acquired in class, so no prior experience needed.
Lecturer: Aeneas Stankowski