The interdisciplinary network 'Feminist AI' at the University of Bonn will start in January 2025 with the aim to strengthen the networking and visibility of female researchers at the University of Bonn and to promote a critical engagement with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The network is aimed at female* students, researchers at all career levels, technical and administrative staff working and researching at the University of Bonn in various disciplines with a focus on AI.
The network includes monthly lunch breaks, where participants can exchange ideas and make new contacts in a relaxed atmosphere. In addition, a website, a social media channel and a database are being developed to increase the visibility of female* researchers and to facilitate the search for female* speakers or female* collaborators (e.g. for research proposals). Another key aspect of the network is critical engagement with AI from feminist, intersectional and decolonial perspectives, with three thematic workshops planned.
As part of the University of Bonn's 2025 call for projects to promote the structural anchoring of gender equality, the network proposed by Dr. Julia Maria Mönig (Centre for Science and Thought), Eva Maria Hille (Department of (Social) Ethics) and Hannah Greß (Workgroup Personalized Digital Health and Telemedicine) will be funded with 10,000 euros. The establishment of 'Feminist AI' will not only intensify interdisciplinary exchange at the University of Bonn, but will also strengthen cooperation between the Faculty of Protestant Theology, the Faculty of Philosophy, the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital Bonn. The network will thus contribute to raising the profile of AI research at the University of Bonn and to closing the gender gap in science.