Citizen University: Are Machines the Better Decision-Makers?

The AI expert explains the problem of people often being unable to understand decisions made by machines and presents a simple rule for better decision-making. Prof. Katharina Zweig leads the "Algorithm Accountability Lab" at the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University in Kaiserslautern. There, she primarily focuses on assessing the consequences of technological developments involving and through "Artificial Intelligence." From 2018 to 2020, she was a member of the parliamentary advisory commission on "Artificial Intelligence," which developed proposals and materials for future decisions of the Bundestag. She also regularly advises non-governmental organizations, ministries, political parties, and companies on the topic of AI with her expertise. She has received several awards, including the "Communicator Prize" from the German Research Foundation in 2019 for her successful communication strategy regarding the political and social impacts of algorithms. In her lecture, the expert highlights a number of cases where machines made erroneous decisions and clarifies the fundamental problem that people cannot truly understand the decisions made by machines. She presents a simple decision-making rule that can determine whether one can make better decisions with the help of a machine. This event is a collaboration between TUM Campus Heilbronn gGmbH, Heilbronner Stimme, and the Dieter Schwarz Foundation.