Semester Reflections: Philosophy and Computer Science

In this episode, Cristina Somcutean joins us to talk about her master’s thesis, Queering the Center of Machine Learning, and how queer theory and feminist philosophy of science led her to question the idea of neutral AI. We get into gradient descent, data as the "new oil", the strangely immaterial image of “the cloud,” and machine learning’s obsession with benchmarks and performance.

In this episode , we are joined by Kevin Zollman, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and this year’s Wittgenstein Lecturer at the University of Bayreuth.Together with Patricia Rich, he talks about his research on social networks, collective knowledge, and how our interactions with others shape what we know and believe.Enjoy listening!

The PPE European Network Conference 2026 is coming to Bayreuth, and we are getting ready. Together with our guest Johanna Thoma, we look ahead to the event by highlighting the research we are most eager to hear. We each selected three standout papers from the program to discuss in detail. Listen in for an inside look at our favorite picks and the key themes of this year's conference.

Patricia and Annette dive into the recent debate over whether people are becoming "lazy" and what it really means to work enough in modern society.From unpaid care work and tax incentives to bureaucracy, inequality, AI, and workplace surveillance, they explore whether longer working hours are actually the solution to society's challenges. Along the way, they ask a deeper philosophical question: when we talk about productivity, are we measuring what truly matters?Join Patricia and Annette for a conversation about work, rest, fairness, and the kinds of social structures that help people and societies flourish.

In this episode, Ramseen and Isabel talk about life in the Philosophy and Computer Science program at University of Bayreuth—from AI ethics and explainability to political philosophy, creative projects, research, campus life, and surviving semesters with wildly different backgrounds.

A short trailer for our new episode on volunteering — now live on our German channel 🇩🇪🎧

In this episode of Philosophy&, Olivier Roy and Patricia Rich take a philosophical look at the Enhanced Games. Are doping bans really about fairness, or just difficult to enforce? Should athletes have the freedom to decide what they put into their bodies, or do competitive sports require collective rules? They also examine financial incentives, questions of exploitation, and whether this new model offers a genuine alternative to the Olympic Games

PhilosophyAnd is also available in German!Tune in to explore our discussions there:https://open.spotify.com/show/7Ml2X1ksJ9b1GpI9UO5dwS?si=ebaf936144514f82

The first year of the second Trump presidency has been tumultuous, and today we will be looking at some of its most salient economic policies. To guide us through this, our guest today is Hartmut Egger, Professor of International Macroeconomics and Trade at the University of Bayreuth.

In the first episode of philosophyAnd (English ), We speak with political philosopher Annette Zimmermann about what it would really mean to democratize AI. Moving beyond AI ethics and speculative fears, the conversation examines AI as a political technology shaped by power, ideology, and economic concentration. We discuss why “innovation” is often treated as a moral good, how the philosophical beliefs of tech elites influence governance, and what role philosophy can play in reclaiming democratic control over emerging technologies.