Research Groups
Funding Source: DFG
Spokesperson: Ingo Plag (Department of English and American Studies)
Duration: 2015 - 2022
Cooperating partners: University of Tübingen, Radboud University of Nijmegen/NL
Spoken morphology, i.e. the pronunciation of morphologically complex words, poses two big challenges to theories of the mental lexicon and grammar. The first is the recent insight that supposedly categorical morpho-phonological alternations are much more variable than previously conceived. What is responsible for this variation, and how can models of grammar and the lexicon accommodate it? The second, and more general, challenge is to determine the role of morphological structure in the phonetic realization of words. Recently, there are conflicting findings whether (and if so, how) morphological structure influences the articulation and acoustics of complex words, and how this in turn influences comprehension. Research in this area thus has important implications for current theories of the mental lexicon and of speech production, perception and comprehension.
Funding Source: DFG
Spokesperson: Gerhard Schurz (Department of Philosophy)
Duration: 2017 -2024
The overall purpose of the research unit is to articulate and elaborate a new understanding of the nature and methodology of metaphysics. Borrowing a term from late 19th century philosophy, the resulting conception of metaphysics is called Inductive Metaphysics. We argue that, in general, metaphysical beliefs should not and cannot be adequately justified solely on a conceptual and a priori basis. Empirical sources and inductive or abductive forms of inference should and in fact do play a much more prominent role in metaphysics than is typically acknowledged. An important share of metaphysical beliefs should be justified a posteriori, based on inductive or abductive inferences from empirical data, embedded in a methodology that resembles that of science, except that metaphysical concepts and theories are transdisciplinary and more general than concepts and theories in science. The research unit aims at developing a systematic account of the methodology and the empirical sources of Inductive Metaphysics.
Funding Source: Manchot Foundation - Manchot Research Group
Principal Investigator: Frank Dietrich (Department of Philosophy/ Düsseldorf Institute for Internet and Democracy)
Duration: 01/2022 - 12/2024
Cooperating partner: HeiCAD, Bochum
The project investigates whether and, if so, to what extent the established philosophical discourse on discrimination is applicable to new forms of disadvantage caused by artificial intelligence methods.
Some problems that arise in the context of AI-assisted decision making, e.g., through the use of biased training data,
can be well captured by established discrimination concepts. In addition, however, there are more complicated phenomena that give rise to novel forms of disadvantage.
For example, in “redundant encoding,” particularly protected characteristics, such as ethnicity, correlate so closely with supposedly unproblematic data, such as zip code, that use of the supposedly unproblematic data results in protected groups being disadvantaged. Further, the use of AI may lead to a systematic disadvantage of “random groups,” such as people with certain shopping behaviors that correlate with non-payment. Here, it needs to be clarified to what extent the conventional understanding of discrimination can be solved by classical characteristics, such as skin color, gender or age.
In all of the phenomenon areas under consideration, we will examine how established concepts of discrimination need to be adapted in order to adequately capture phenomena of AI-based discrimination. The project is part of the “Use Case Law” of the Manchot research group “Decision Making using artificial intelligence methods”.
Funding Source: Manchot Foundation - Manchot Research Group
Principal Investigator: Gerhard Vowe, Marc Ziegele, Stefan Marschall (Department of Social Sciences/ Düsseldorf Institute for Internet and Democracy DIID)
Duration: 01/2019 – 12/2021; 01/2022 - 12/2024
Cooperating partner: HeiCAD, Bochum
The research project “Supporting Political Decisions with Artificial Intelligence” (UPEKI) explores the question of how AI can support political decision-making processes.