This is the main course website for the seminar Critical Data Studies in summer term 2025 at University of Bayreuth. The umbrella topic for this iteration of the seminar is called Big Data, AI & Informed Consent.
Syllabus¶
Are you curious about the intersection of artificial intelligence and ethical data practices? This year's Critical Data Studies seminar is titled “Big Data, AI and informed consent”. In this seminar we will address the following topics:
- The complexity of informed consent in the age of AI.
- How AI technologies impact user privacy and autonomy.
- Strategies to ensure ethical data collection and use.
The collection and analysis of big data is now impacting all areas of our lives. Critical Data Studies (CDS) explores the cultural, ethical and socio-technical challenges at the interface between computer science, the humanities and social sciences and society. Students work critically on topics of their own choice relating to big data, (generative) AI, data science, data ethics, privacy or fake news, and discuss how data systems and algorithms can contribute to solving social problems.
Based on the umbrella topic of Big Data, AI & Informed Consent, the participants develop their own scientific questions and work on them either individually or in small groups of up to two people during the semester.
Schedule¶
Introduction¶
- The Trouble with Bias: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMym_BKWQzk
- GDPR: What Is It and How Might It Affect You?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6wwBqfSk-o
Cluster #1: DSGVO, Right to Explanation, Informed Consent¶
| Topic | Links and Content Description |
|---|---|
| DSGVO (GDPR) | Video (3min): The Wallstreet Journal - GDPR: What Is It and How Might It Affect You?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6wwBqfSk-o |
| DSGVO (GDPR) | What is GDPR, the EU’s new data protection law?: https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/ |
| Right to Explanation | Kate Vredenburgh: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jopp.12262 |
| Right to Explanation + DSGVO (GDPR) | Artikel: Wachter, Mittelstadt & Floridi (2017) – “Why a Right to Explanation of Automated Decision-Making Does Not Exist in the GDPR”: https://academic.oup.com/idpl/article-abstract/7/2/76/3860948 |
| Informed Consent + DSGVO (GDPR) | GDPR.EU - What are the GDPR consent requirements?: https://gdpr.eu/gdpr-consent-requirements/ |
| Informed Consent + DSGVO (GDPR) | Artikel: Managing Personal Data in a Digital Environment - Did GDPR’s Concept of Informed Consent Really Give Us Control?: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3452573 |
Cluster #2: Fairness, Bias & Trustworthiness in the Context of the AI Act¶
| Topic | Links and Content Description |
|---|---|
| EU AI Act | Video (4min) “Will AI Laws Protect Us? EU AI Act Explained” (DW Shift); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmXtgwd8VfM |
| Trustworthiness + Transparency + EU AI Act | Ted Talk (10min): Ethical and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Evaluation ; Louise McCormack ; TEDxGalway;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlGXc2qLunI |
| Trustworthiness | Ted Talk (13min): Design Challenges for Trustworthy AI; Sabine Köszegi; TEDxTUWien; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmgznd8MwSA |
| Trustworthiness | https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.05379, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444816676645 |
| Transparency | IBM - What is AI Transparency; https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-transparency |
| Bias | YouTube Video (50min) Crawford: The Trouble with Bias (NIPS Keynote); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMym_BKWQzkFairness + Bias; Machine Bias - ProPublica; https://www.propublica.org/article/machine-bias-risk-assessments-in-criminal-sentencing |