At the DGPuK Annual Conference, organised by the Public Relations & Organisational Communication and History of Communication groups, PhD student Paul Heß presented the initial findings of his doctoral thesis. Together with Prof. Dr Thomas Pleil, he addresses the conference theme ‘Communicating Future (Hi)Stories’ by asking: Can a progressive future be shaped with the support of AI and the ‘data from yesterday’ integrated into the models?

NGOs communicate their sustainable visions as a change to the status quo. However, the organisations describe fictions within AI that run counter to this goal: racist imagery or the production of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. At the same time, NGOs use the technology to simulate target groups. Whether these simulated fictions of the target group are used productively depends on their data basis.

The way AI itself is handled is also shaped by preconceptions. Utopian or dystopian notions characterise its use, thereby pushing concrete engagement into the background.

At the naprok network’s doctoral workshop , which took place in conjunction with the conference , the h_da was represented twice: Paul Heß gave a short presentation on his entire doctoral project, whilst PhD student Teresa Otsa presented her thesis on communication for local sustainability transformation .