Research Context

Tenured Professor for Ethics of Digital Methods and Technologies

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I am very happy to announce that, as of today, I have been named tenured professor (Universitätsprofessor als Beamter auf Lebenszeit) at the Ruhr University Bochum. This implies: the assessment of my six‑year Junior Professorship has been completed successfully! My start in February 2020 – at the beginning of the COVID pandemic – seems quite far away already. Growing into this position and developing my own style while making sure that I thoroughly meet all the tenure criteria – this was a lot of hard work. Of course, there was also much that had to work in my favor and was not under my control. It is a privilege to be given the opportunity to spend my working life as an academic philosopher and I am thankful for this. I would like to thank my family, my colleagues and my friends for their support.

I take this step as another opportunity to reflect my roles as an academic researcher, university teacher, team supervisor, and constructive faculty member. I hope that I find ways to contribute to the Ruhr University, to academic philosophy and to the continued project of a democratic society. I am looking forward to the coming years of personal and academic growth.

Knowledge transfer & public outreach/Research Context

Isabel Wrobel received award for MA thesis and excellent student performance

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I’m happy to announce that Isabel Wrobel, currently working as a researcher in the team of the Junior Professorship for Ethics for Digital Methods and Technologies towards a PhD, received an award for excellent study performance. Her MA thesis is titled “Self-Tracking – Körperbild – Normierung: Betrachtung, Diskussion und Analyse leiblicher Erfahrung von Self-Tracking als verkörperte Technologie anhand einer soziologisch orientierten leib- und postphänomenologischen Forschungsperspektive”.

The thesis examines Merleau‑Ponty’s phenomenology of the body, as well as Don Ihde’s post‑phenomenology, in order to clarify how the technical possibilities of self‑tracking also alter our embodied experience, that is, our body‑shaped way of engaging with the world: To what extent does self‑tracking, as a technologised practice, modify our understanding of corporeality?

The winners of the awards for excellent study performance of the Ruhr University Bochum are presented in the following Video on YouTube.

Applied Ethics/New Publication/Technology Ethics

New publication on reflective writing and the impact of generative AI tools

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A new article from me was accepted for publication in the journal AI & Society and is available now for early access. It is titled “Commodification in academic writing: a comparative analysis of two LLM apps”. It compares the affordances of ChatGPT and Microsoft Word Copilot in terms of Albert Borgmann’s concept of commodification. The article is published as open access and the abstract reads like this:

This paper investigates the impact of Large Language Model (LLM)-assisted writing on reflective thinking, building on existing adaptations of Albert Borgmann’s device paradigm to Don Ihde’s postphenomenology. Academic writing can facilitate engagement with our beliefs and pre-judgments, making it highly conducive to reflective thinking. However, generative AI tools, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft Word Copilot, may undermine such meaningful engagement as they ‘disburden’ users of the effort inherent in reflective writing. Still, we fall short when we leave unexamined the kinds of uses each writing app inclines its users to pursue. Despite using the same LLM, a cross-comparison reveals that the user interface (UI) design of ChatGPT and Word Copilot affords distinct forms of interaction: ChatGPT’s UI design may, in principle, facilitate reflective engagement through conversational interactions, prompting users to formulate and engage with their beliefs on a given topic. In contrast, Word Copilot emphasizes automated document production, making a similar kind of engaging use unviable. As a conceptual basis for the argument, this paper extends Ihde’s history of writing ‘technics’ and brings it together with recent conceptual developments in postphenomenology by discussing the apps in terms of ‘quasi-materiality’ of application UIs and the affordances they offer as part of ‘multistabilities’. This paper concludes with a call for academic writers to critically assess how their tools mediate academic writing and thinking processes, arguing that choosing a writing tool for academic writing has ceased to be a matter of personal preference and has become one of academic ethos.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02446-z

Weydner-Volkmann, Sebastian (2025, early access): “Commodification in academic writing: a comparative analysis of two LLM apps”. In: AI & Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02446-z

Applied Ethics/New Publication/Technology Ethics

New publication on the postphenomenology of LLM-based Chatbots

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A new article, co-authored with Selin Gerlek, was published in the recently founded Journal of Human Technology Relations. The title reads “Materiality and Machinic Embodiment: A Postphenomenological Inquiry into ChatGPT’s Active User Interface”. The article was published as open access and the abstract reads like this:

The rise of ChatGPT affords a fundamental transformation of the dynamics in human-technology interaction, as Large Language Model (LLM) applications increasingly emulate our social habits in digital communication. This poses a challenge to Don Ihde’s explicit focus on material technics and their affordances: ChatGPT did not introduce new material technics. Rather, it is a new digital app that runs on the same physical devices we have used for years. This paper undertakes a re-evaluation of some postphenomenological concepts, introducing the notion of quasi-materiality to better understand the role that user interfaces (UIs) play in affording different stabilities in technological mediation. We propose the term “active User Interface” (aUI) to denote the specifics of how ChatGPT makes use of LLMs within its UI design to afford seamless, intuitive conversations with a quasi-other in what Ihde termed “alterity relations”. Drawing inspiration from Peter-Paul Verbeek’s work on the intelligification of our material world through (AI) technologies, our analysis leads to the formulation of a novel stability afforded through aUIs: “machinic embodiment stability”. This concept sheds light on how ChatGPT’s aUI integrates with our established habits of digitally mediated social communication. As the use of LLMs is expected to become increasingly prevalent, this provides a new perspective on the current evolution of the technological landscape.

https://doi.org/10.59490/jhtr.2025.3.7387

Gerlek, Selin; Sebastian Weydner-Volkmann (2025): “Materiality and Machinic Embodiment: A Postphenomenological Inquiry into ChatGPT’s Active User Interface” Journal of Human Technology Relations 3, 1-15. DOI: 10.59490/jhtr.2025.3.7387.

Applied Ethics/New Publication/Technology Ethics

New publication on student autonomy and Learning Analytics feedback tools

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Another one of my recent submissions, this time co-authored with Dominik Bär from my team, was published (Early Access) in the Journal for Learning Analytics. The title reads “Student Autonomy and Learning Analytics: Philosophical Considerations for Designing Feedback Tools”. The article was published as open access and the abstract reads like this:

LA-based feedback applications are becoming increasingly important in higher education institutions (HEIs). However, the impact of such systems on student autonomy is contested in parts of the research debate, where hopes and ambitions of learner autonomy and self-regulated learning are confronted with fears that learners are being reduced to mere numeric constructs and are caught up in neoliberal demands to self-optimize. We explore these challenges from the debate with a focus on automated, LA feedback systems in HEIs and their impact on student autonomy. As we show, such technologies must be seen within a field of tension between heteronomous (i.e.,contextual and societal) demands and autonomous, self-organized learning. Aiming to bridge the critical parts of the debate with those that highlight the potential of such technologies, we build upon meaningful conceptions of limited, situated autonomy and explore what it would mean for such feedback systems to strengthen, not undermine student autonomy. Tomake the concept of student autonomy applicable, we propose a list of philosophical design considerations for LA-based feedback systems. We believe that this will offer a philosophically informed intellectual tool to address common concerns raised by parts of the debate and that it can encourage further discussion on recognizing, promoting, and preserving student autonomy in higher education.

https://dx.doi.org/10.18608/jla.2024.8313

Weydner-Volkmann, Sebastian; Dominik Bär (2024): “Student autonomy and Learning Analytics: Philosophical Considerations for Designing Feedback Tools.” Journal of Learning Analytics, Early Access Articles, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2024.8313

Applied Ethics/New Publication/Technology Ethics

New publication on Algorithmic Fairness and LA-based interventions to reduce “Social Identity Threat“

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It took quite some time, but I am happy to announce that a new article, co-authored with Laura Fröhlich, was published (Early Access) in the Journal for Learning Analytics. It is on “Adaptive Interventions Reducing Social Identity Threat to Increase Equity in Higher Distance Education: A Use Case and Ethical Considerations on Algorithmic Fairness”. The article was published as open access and the abstract reads like this:

Educational disparities between traditional and non-traditional student groups in higher distance education can potentially be reduced by alleviating social identity threat and strengthening students’ sense of belonging in the academic context. We present a use case of how Learning Analytics and Machine Learning can be applied to develop and implement an algorithm to classify students as at-risk of experiencing social identity threat. These students would be presented with an intervention fostering a sense of belonging. We systematically analyze the intervention’s intended positive consequences to reduce structural discrimination and increase educational equity, as well as potential risks based on privacy, data protection, and algorithmic fairness considerations. Finally, we provide recommendations for Higher Education Institutions to mitigate risk of bias and unintended consequences during algorithm development and implementation from an ethical perspective.

https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2024.8301

Froehlich, Laura; Sebastian Weydner-Volkmann (2024): “Adaptive Interventions Reducing Social Identity Threat to Increase Equity in Higher Distance Education: A Use Case and Ethical Considerations on Algorithmic Fairness.” In: Journal of Learning Analytics, Early Access Articles, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2024.8301