The AI Ethics Research Hub unites diverse research groups and expertise at Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg around a single vision: shaping the future of AI with ethics at its core. We connect experts across disciplines, develop projects, and turn ideas into methods, tools, and impact for the research community and the wider public.

E-Mail: [email protected]

Gerhard Schreiber is Professor of Social and Technological Ethics and AI Officer at Helmut Schmidt University, co-chair of the HSU-AI Institute, and head of the AI Ethics Research Hub. His research bridges social ethics, which examines the social dimensions of normative issues and epistemic uncertainties, and technology ethics, which critically reflects on technologies across their design, development, deployment, and use. He studies human-technology relations and interdependencies, analyzing how people use technology and how technology, in turn, affects people. Conceptually, he is developing a responsibility framework that addresses agency, authorship, and the extent, limits, and conditions for delegating human judgment and decision-making authority to AI systems.

His recent publications include: 

• Söllner, M. / Benlian, A. / Bretschneider, U. / Knight, C. / Ohly, S. / Rudkowski, L. / Schreiber, G. / Wendt, D.: „ChatGPT and Beyond: Exploring the Responsible Use of Generative AI in the Workplace – An Interdisciplinary Perspective“, in: Business & Information Systems Engineering (BISE), vol. 67(2), 2025, pp. 289–303.
• Schreiber, G.: „Data Toxicality: A Techno-Philosophical Inquiry into Digital Harm“, in: Filozofia, vol. 80(3), 2025, pp. 300–313.
• Schreiber, G.: „Ausgemenschelt? Mensch-Maschine-Interaktionen im Zeitalter von KI“,, in: Es menschelt – Phänomene des Mensch-Seins in interdisziplinärer Perspektive, ed. by Ulrike Peisker / Jochen Schmidt / Michael Roth, Baden-Baden: Alber 2025, pp. 177–189.
• Schreiber, G.: „Reconsidering Agency in the Age of AI“, in: Filozofia, vol. 79(5), 2024, pp. 529–537.
• Schreiber, G. / Ohly, L. (ed.): KI:Text. Diskurse über KI-Textgeneratoren, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter 2024. (581 p.)
• Schreiber, G. / Waschka, M. (ed.): AI and Dis/ability: Co-Constitution, Appropriation, and Design, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter 2026 (forthcoming).
• Rischer, M. / Ehrhardt, J. / Schreiber, G.: Moderating Offensive Language in Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems (forthcoming).

Contact: [email protected]

Kathrin Bruder is a research associate at the Chair of Protestant Theology and research member of the AI Ethics research Hub. She is pursuing a doctorate on philosophical-anthropological and theological-ethical questions concerning artificial intelligence, analyzing transhumanist and posthumanist currents. Her further research interests lie in the fields of the ethics and philosophy of technology, particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics, human–machine interaction, and subjectivity. In addition, her work addresses topics in social ethics, such as sexual and gender ethics.

Her recent publications include:

• Burghardt (now: Bruder), K: „AI Text Generators and the Truth Paradigm. Considerations from a Phenomenological Perspective“, in: Filozofia, vol. 79(5), 2024, pp. 514–528.
• Burghardt (now: Bruder) K.: „Digitales Selbstbewusstsein. Philosophische Interventionen“, in: Winter-Tietel, R. / Ohly, L. (ed.): Theologie Angesichts des Digitalen. Beiträge zu den Theologischen Herausforderungen durch Digitalität und Digitalisierung, Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang 2023.
• Burghardt (now: Bruder) K.: „Wenn Maschinen als Menschen zu begegnen scheinen. Anerkennung unter der Herausforderung transhumanistischer Visionen“, in: Ohly, L. /Gerber, U. (ed.): Anerkennung. Personal – sozial – transsozial, Leipzig: EVA 2021.

Contact: [email protected]

Benedikt Bussmann is a postdoctoral researcher at the AI Ethics Research Hub. He
studied educational sciences between 2012 and 2016 at the Helmut-Schmidt-
University/ University of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg. Besides his service in the
German Armed Forces he finished his doctoral thesis in 2024 on the topics of military
ethics, ethical education and decision processes. He is working on the
interdisciplinarity in AI considering the interdependence of humans and AI application
systems.

His recent research include:

• Bussmann, B.: „Hyperwar and the dehumanisation of war. An ethical consideration“, HSUopen (pending).
• Bussmann, B.: „Spielerisch in den Abgrund blicken, in: Ethik und Gesellschaft, (pending).

Contact: [email protected]

Lukas Johrendt is a researcher at the Chair of Protestant Theology and research member of the AI Ethics research Hub. His research focuses primarily on socio-ethical and legal-ethical issues, including the use and regulation of AI systems in higher education contexts. He is a member of the Senate Committee for AI Issues at Helmut Schmidt University. His other research interests lie in the areas of gender and sexual ethics, including issues of sexuality in digitized and datafied societies. He also focuses his research on questions of political ethics and political theory (Critical theory / radical democratic theory / poststructuralism).

Contact: [email protected]

Sylvia Kühne is a postdoctoral researcher at the AI Ethics Research Hub at the Chair
Chair of Social and Technology Ethics. She studied sociology at the FU Berlin and
international criminology the University of Hamburg, where she received her PhD
with a thesis entitled “Biometrics as ‘Soft Surveillance’. On the acceptance of
fingerprint”. She has conducted research on the acceptance, trust and socio-
technical usability of security technologies, especially biometrics and systems of
anticipatory truth verification.
In her current research she is exploring the social, epistemic, and political dimensions
of emerging technologies, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence and
algorithmic systems. She is interested in how new technological infrastructures and
research practices shape what counts as knowledge, evidence, and rationality, and
how they reconfigure relations between humans, machines, and institutions.

Her recent publications include:

• Kühne, S.: „Let the user figure it out. Revisiting Usability and Security of eGates in Laboratory Research“, in: International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, pp.1-22, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2025.2574510.
• Kühne, S.: „Wargaming in the Age of AI: From synthetical immersion to analytical
  simulation? Lecture at the ECAI 2025″ [Workshop W33 AI in Security and Defense
  (AI4SD)], Bologna, Italy, 26.10.2025. https://ai4sd-ecai-2025.github.io/, 2025.
• Kühne, S.: „Gut Feelings and Algorithms. Searching for Harmful Intentions in Airport
  Security Processes“, in: Engaging Science, Technology, and Society, Vol. 10(3) (Co-
  author: Bettina Paul), 2024, DOI: 10.17351/ests2023.2337.
• Kühne, S.: “I Don’t Know If It wanted Me to Dance.” On Leading and Being Led in Human-eGate Interaction“, in: Tecnoscienza. Italian Journal of Science and Technology
  Studies, Vol.14(2). (Co-author: Bettina Paul), 2024, DOI:10.6092/issn.2038-3460/17902.
• Kühne, S.: „Algorithmen und Künstliche Intelligenz als Game Changer? Moderne
  Waffensysteme zwischen Erwartung und Wirklichkeit.“ [Algorithms and Artificial
  Intelligence as Game Changers? Modern weapon systems between expectation and
  reality.] Research Report DSF. (Co-author: Christian Alwardt), 2023,
  https://ifsh.de/file/research/project_documents/DSF-56-Alwardt_online.pdf.

Contact: [email protected]

Since October 2025 Mareike Proske is a research associate at the Chair of Protestant Theology with a special focus on Social and Technological Ethics at Helmut Schmidt University. From 2023 to 2025 she did her master’s degree in Social Pedagogy and Theology for Vocational School Teaching at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Between 2020 and 2023 Mareike Proske did her Bachelor’s degree in Social Pedagogy and Theology for Vocational School Teaching at Leuphana University Lüneburg and from 2011 to 2014 she did a Bachelor’s degree in „Education and Upbringing in Childhood“ at HAWK Hildesheim.

Contact: [email protected]

Madeleine Rischer is a research associate at the AI Ethics Research Hub. Her research lies at the intersection of ethics, artificial intelligence, and society, with a focus on designing human-centered, fair, and trustworthy AI systems that serve the common good. Starting in December 2025, she will pursue her PhD on “Designing Embodied Social Robots for PTSD Care: Towards Trustworthy and Ethical AI Companions.” Her applied research and volunteer work focus on accessible and ethical AI systems, including the development of an AI-supported communication app for people with cognitive, speech and language impairments. Before joining the AI Ethics Research Hub, Madeleine worked as a research associate at the Professorship of Computer Science in Mechanical Engineering at HSU, where she contributed to projects on fair AI through the principle of Ethics by Design in social contexts. She also participated in research on unsupervised learning applied to radar data and taught undergraduate computer science courses.

Her recent publications include:

• Ray, L., Jordan (Rischer), M., Arcone, S.A., Kaluzienski, L.M., Walker, B., Ortquist Koons, P., Lever, J., Hamilton, G.: Velocity field in the McMurdo shear zone from annual ground penetrating radar imaging and crevasse matching. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 173, 103023, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2020.103023.

Contact: [email protected]

Daniel Tramp is a postdoctoral researcher at the AI Ethics Research Hub. He addresses philosophical and ethical challenges at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI), education, and society. His work focuses on (practical) philosophical questions surrounding AI and digitalization, informed by classical themes of (educational) philosophy. He explores questions of trust, transparency, accountability, and responsibility in the use of AI – examining what makes AI systems trustworthy and what their use means for human agency, understanding, and the aims of education. He also examines issues of judgment and truth in the digital age when confronted with fake news, conspiracy myths, and AI-related biases and discrimination.

He brings to this work a diverse background: He studied Philosophy and Sociology (Magister Artium) in Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig, where he also completed his doctorate in Philosophy. He has worked as a programmer, teacher, and research associate in the „Artificial Intelligence enhanced Education Lab“ (AIEduLab) project at the Department of Media Education at Europa-Universität Flensburg.

His recent publications include:

• Tramp, D.: „Ethische Räume im Lichte zukünftiger Kompetenzen“, in: Reihe Erfahrungsorientierte Bildungsforschung. Medienpädagogische Erfahrungsräume, Beltz-Verlag 2025 (forthcoming).
• Tramp, D.: „xAI als praktisch-soziales Problem des Vertrauens“, in: Katrin Späte, K.; Dürkop-Henseling, L.; Techen, A. (ed.): KI in der soziologischen Berufspraxis. Springer VS 2025 (forthcoming).
• Tramp, D.: „Mediale Distanz als medienpädagogische Grundstruktur“, in: Tagungsband „Pädagogisch-anthropologische Grenzziehungen: Menschenbilder in der Bildungswissenschaft“, Österreichische Gesellschaft für Forschung und Entwicklung im Bildungswesen (ÖFEB), 2025 (forthcoming).

Contact: [email protected]

Maximilian Waschka is coordinating the process of data annotation in our DIWOP-financed research project on an AI-based companion app that translates spoken language into German E2R language with Natural Language Processing. In this research project, he empirically studies collaborative software development with people with dis-/abilities in the fields of AI-ethics and media dis-/ability studies. For this project, he is currently organizing the conference „AI and Dis-/ability: Co-Constitution, Appropriation, and Design” (November 12-13, 2025) with Gerhard Schreiber and Mareike Proske, which will be followed by double-blind peer reviewed open access publication of the conference proceedings in July 2026.
His background is in feminist media studies as part of the cultural studies program at
Leuphana University Lüneburg. He also founded a startup in the field of AI in
medicine technology, which he successfully exited in 2021. You can read his Master
thesis “Algorithmic governmentality. A Grounded Theory on the Governance of
Academic Writing Cultures with Plagiarism Detection Software” here.
In his research leading up to his dissertation, he focuses on analyzing AI as algorithmic
governmentality or environmentality in specific empirical contexts.

Contact: [email protected]