In this keynote Professor de Vreese outlines the challenges and opportunities posed by (generative) AI to democracy. Based on recent studies he discusses who is most, and least, AI literate and what the prospects are of both individual and societal level strategies to deal with AI developments.

Claes de Vreese is professor of Artificial Intelligence and Society (2021-), with a special focus on media and democracy at the University of Amsterdam, and holds the Chair in political communication at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research ASCoR. He is also a Weizenbaum Distinguished Fellow of 2025.

• Augusto Santos (University of Erfurt), Regina Cazzamatta (University of Erfurt) and Carlo José Napolitano (São Paulo State University):  “Comparing State-Led Content Moderation Regulations Across Nations”
• Fabrice Teuguia (SI): “Navigating the Legal Landscape of APIs: Innovations and Strategies for Sustainable, Inclusive, and Secure Digital Ecosystems”
• Ben Crum (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam): “Politicising Digital Policy in the European Union”
• Stephan Dreyer (Leibniz-Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut):  “Protection of Minors as a Disservice: Platforms, Due Diligence, and the Privatization of Children’s Rights”

• Oluwasegun Ogunsakin (Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria), Samuel Olawale (Tai-Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Nigeria) and Oluwaseun Ilemikun (Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria): “Digital electoral transformation and challenges of democratic participation in Nigeria”
• Mona Krewel and Jeanelle Frontin (Victoria University of Wellington): “The Anatomy of Influence: Unveiling Predictive Patterns in Targeted Electoral Advertising with AI in the 2024 US Presidential Election”
• Salma Aqida (Goethe University Frankfurt): “Participatory Propaganda and the Affordances of Digital Platforms: Explaining the Emergence of Far-Right Islamist Protest Mobilization in Indonesia”
• Regina Cazzamatta (Universität Erfurt): “Regressive ‘alternative’ media and their impact on destabilizing public spheres in Europe and Latin America”
• Maysa Amer (Freie Universität Berlin):  “Platform Governance between Platforms and Governments: What is the Regulatory Framework of Disinformation in the Global South and its Implications? The case of Egypt”

• Rainer Rehak (Weizenbaum Institute:  “AI Narrative Breakdown – A Critical Assessment of Power and Promise of sustainable AI”
• Zachary Cooper (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam):  “8 Billion Artists: The Next Generation of Rights In The Next Generation Of Generative-AI Creative Works”
• Regina Sipos (Technical University of Munich): “Using Generative AI to Grapple with Digital Futures: The Critical Participatory Co-Design Method”
• Yasmin Kafai, Luis Morales-Navarro, Danaé Metaxa (University of Pennsylvania): “Promoting Computational Empowerment for Youth: Algorithm Auditing of Generative AI Filters in Social Media”
• Kiran Kappeler (University of Copenhagen), Michael V. Reiss (Leibniz-Institut für Medienforschung, Hans-Bredow-Institut), Judith Möller (Leibniz-Institut für Medienforschung, Hans-Bredow-Institut | Universität Hamburg): “Measuring Generative AI Knowledge: A Comparative Study of Self-Assessment, Conceptual Understanding, and Factual Knowledge”

• Christian Herzog (University of Lübeck), Robin Preiß (University of Lübeck), Renée Ridgway (Aarhus University) and Daniela Zetti (University of Lübeck): “Three Contextual Problem-Solving Strategies for Digital Sovereignty as an Ill-Structured Problem”
• Christian Herzog (University of Lübeck) and Jason Branford (University of Hamburg):  “A Relational Approach to Digital Sovereignty”
• Dorian Cavé and Rainer Rehak (Weizenbaum Institute): “Gesturing Toward Decolonial ICT: Tech discernment for emancipatory technologies”
• Konstanze Möller-Jansen (TU Dresden):  “Algorithmic Domination”
• Juliane Mendelsohn (TU Imenau): “Normative Power and Autonomy in the Digital Era”

• Curd B. Knüpfer, (University of Southern Denmark), Yunkang Yang (Texas A&M) and Mike Cowburn  (Zeppelin Universität): “The Logic of Connective Faction: How Digitally-Networked Elites and Hyper-Partisan Media Radicalize Politics”
• Quentin Bukold (Weizenbaum Institute): “Exploration of Mass Comment Campaigns in European Public Consultations using an LLM”
• Lion Wedel (Weizenbaum Institute): “Classifying TikTok & co. – moving away from external definitions to a user-centered approach.”

• Leonie Wunderlich and Sascha Hölig (Leibniz-Institut für Medienforschung I Hans-Bredow-Institut):  “Sensemaking in the Age of Algorithms: Young Users’ Information Practices and Agency Negotiation on TikTok”
• Laura Sūna and Dagmar Hoffmann (University of Siegen): “On the relationship of digital well-being and digital literacy”
• Jaana Davidjants (Tallinn University), Josie Hamper (University of Oxford), Matti Kortesoja (Tampere University), Andrea Schaffař (Paris Lodron University Salzburg), Katrin Tiidenberg (Tallinn University) and Jenni Niemelä-Nyrhinen (LAB University of Applied Sciences):  “Curating Algorithms for Self-Care: From Deliberately Dwelling to Disconnection”
• Eloïse Changyue Soulier  (University of Hamburg): “Autonomy and relationality in the digital age”

• Alexander Smit (University of Groningen):  “Enforced Socio-Digital Marginalization: Rethinking Digital Exclusion Among Disadvantaged Low-Literate Citizens”
• Paola Verhaert (Vrije Universiteit Brussel): “Constructing the digital citizen: How digital inclusion policies shape normative ideals of digital citizenship in Flanders (2019-2024)”
• Helen Thornham, Alicja Pawluczuk and Rosemary Wilkinson (University of Leeds): “co-constituting digital inclusion: the affordances and limits of collective care in meaningful digital inclusion”
• Martin Herbers (Zeppelin Universität gemeinnützige GmbH): “Making a Good Society Through a Good Life: The Maker Movement, Individual Eudaimonia, and Democratic Participation”
• Victoria Vziatysheva, Mykola Makhortykh, Maryna Sydorova and Vihang Jumle (University of Bern): “How Citizens Search for Information about Climate Change: Role of Search Suggestions, Political Beliefs, and Intuition”

• Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann (The Hebrew University, Department of Communication & Journalism): “Create Against Hate: Digital Media Literacy for Playful Resilience in Algorithmic Environments”
• Caroline Lindekamp (CORRECTIV – Recherchen für die Gesellschaft | TU Dortmund) and Anna Süß (CORRECTIV – Recherchen für die Gesellschaft): “Combining Prebunking and Debunking through Peer Production: The Case of CORRECTIV.Faktenforum”
• Marco Dürr (University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm), Marten Risius (University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm) and Winnifred Louis (The University of Queensland): “Countering Anti-Democratic Beliefs: Future-Orientation Pre-Bunking Interventions for Cognitive Immunology”
• Raffael Heiss (MCI – The Entrepreneurial School) and Isabelle Freiling (University of Utah):  “Addressing Social Media Platforms’ Influence on Academic Research”
• Sveinung Arnesen (NORCE – Norwegian Research Centre):  “Engaging Citizens in AI Governance: Evidence from a Deliberative Poll Experiment”

• Victoria Vziatysheva, Mykola Makhortykh, Maryna Sydorova and Vihang Jumle (University of Bern): “Shades of Bias: How Users Understand Search Engine Bias and How It Affects Trust in Search Results”
• Alexander Johannes Wilke, Florian Meissner and Miglė Puikytė (Macromedia University of Applied Science): “Motivating digital natives to care about their security online: A survey experiment based on Protection Motivation Theory.”
• Richard Joos and Sabine Bar (TU Dresden, CODIP): “Trolling the trolls – fighting dark participation with digital vigilantism”
• Yannick Fernholz  (Weizenbaum Institute): “Ethical Foundations for Resilient Smart Cities: Preliminary Insights from Stakeholder Perspectives on Crisis Communication Technologies”
• Gözde Söğütlü (Istanbul University | Humboldt University): “The Role of Social Media in Peacebuilding”

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