What is eTHIcs all about?
The eTHIcs Digitalization College at the Technical University of Ingolstadt is an interdisciplinary qualification program focusing on ethics, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. Its aim is to sensitize students from various digitalization degree programs to the social, normative, and ethical implications of modern technologies. The focus is on issues of technology assessment, the acceptance of AI systems, regulation, and the responsible design of human-machine interactions. The college is designed as a university-wide interdisciplinary program and combines technical, social, and philosophical perspectives on digitalization.

The basic module (fundamentals)
The basic module forms the theoretical foundation of the eTHIcs program. It consists of an interdisciplinary lecture series with accompanying pre-reading courses and the eTHIcs Conference. In the lectures, internal and external experts teach key concepts of the ethics of digitalization, including topics such as machine ethics, discrimination by algorithms, social dynamics in digital media, and AI in medicine. The eTHIcs Conference deepens this content through short student presentations, poster presentations, and a peer review process. The basic module is anchored in the curriculum and is fully creditable.

Application module, summer school, and certificate
Building on the basic module, the application module takes the form of the international eTHIcs summer school. In this block course, students from different countries work on practical projects related to ethical issues in technology, for example in the areas of autonomous driving, autonomous flying, or AI-supported medical diagnostics. The aim is to apply and deepen the skills acquired in the basic module in realistic research scenarios. Those who successfully complete both the basic module and the application module will receive the “eTHIcs” university certificate. This certifies in-depth knowledge of ethics, AI, and digital responsibility.

Registration: E-Mail to Laura.Crompton@thi.de or Estherfee.Reinhardt@thi.de. Below you find more information regarding the summer school.

Knowledge dies in darkness, but great science is discourse!

That’s why we, the Ethics Team at AImotion, are opening our doors every other Thursday for a biweekly Ethics Office Hour.

Join us in after 16:00 the common space on Level 3 of the K-Building at the Ingolstadt campus (Esplanade 10, right next to the brigk Incubator) for lively, informal discussion about AI, ethics, art, humanity, computer science and all the places they intersect.

We’ll bring interesting reads from across AI ethics and AI more broadly; papers, book excerpts, talks, conference ideas, the good stuff worth thinking about. Many of you have already come to us with your own questions, ranging from “How can I ever really know if yellow looks the same to everyone else as it does to me?” to “What responsibility do I carry for downstream uses of a model I didn’t intend?”

So, this is our way to provide a space for these questions.

Bring one such question. A real one. One you actually care about. Ask it, and your first slice of pizza is on us. You have no question, but you could really go for a Pizza? Come anyway! Have a slice for €1, listen in, grab a drink at cost, and enjoy the proud German tradition of “Feierabendbierchen” with colleagues from across disciplines.

The ethics nerds will be there regardless. We’ll be having a great time and really you might as well join us.

Every other Thursday after 16:00 · Level 3 K-Building · Ethics Office Hour