The purpose of the course is to reflect and discuss the social and ethical aspects that specifically arise around the topics of the master theses of the participants.After successful completion of the course, students will be able to recognize the relations between technical, social and ethical issues and to implement principles of responsible research and innovation in their master theses.

The course will be strongly oriented at the topics of the master theses of the students and the respective progress. Teaching methods include: short inputs by the lecturer, short presentations by the students (on the master thesis and respective social and ethical aspects), group discussion, and written reflection.

The specific contents strongly depend on the topics of the master theses. In general the course will repeat and deepen the following themes:Social and ethical aspects of AI & cybersecurity (in relation to the concrete topics of the students)Conceptions of ethicsSocietal attitudes and perceptions, public technology discoursesPrinciples and strategies of responsible innovation

Contents of the course "Social, Ethical and Legal Dimensions of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity"

Will be provided on Moodle

active participation in group discussionspresentations in class, panel disucssionswritten reflection (stand-alone essay or chapter of the master thesis)

social and ethical aspects specific to the individual master thesis

The following elements will be relevant for the assessment:- active participation in group discussions (20%)- organisation of and participation in a final panel discussion on selected topics (20%)- written reflection on the master thesis, covering the most important ethical and societal issues  (60%)Written student papers may not contain any text created with generative AI tools (e. g. ChatGPT). The lecturer reserves the right to call students in for an oral follow-up interview which students must pass. Students are permitted to use generative AI as a tool (e. g. for brainstorming or language correction). Working with original scientific sources is always required. Violation of this rule (as well as any other form of plagiarism) will lead to a negative grade, removal from the class as well as a report to university leadership.