Congratulations to our colleague Lucien Heitz on publishing two new publications!

The first publication is a journal article published in the distinguished Digital Journalism journal. Written as a collaboration between computer science and communication science scholars, the article studies the effects of diverse news recommender systems in the context of democracy.

“Benefits of Diverse News Recommendations for Democracy: A User Study“

Authors: Lucien Heitz, Juliane A. Lischka, Alena Birrer, Bibek Paudel (former DDIS member, currently at Stanford University), Suzanne Tolmeijer (former DDIS member, soon at the University of Hamburg), Laura Laugwitz, and Abraham Bernstein

Abstract: “News recommender systems provide a technological architecture that helps shaping public discourse. Following a normative approach to news recommender system design, we test utility and external effects of a diversity-aware news recommender algorithm. In an experimental study using a custom-built news app, we show that diversity-optimized recommendations (1) perform similar to methods optimizing for user preferences regarding user utility, (2) that diverse news recommendations are related to a higher tolerance for opposing views, especially for politically conservative users, and (3) that diverse news recommender systems may nudge users towards preferring news with differing or even opposing views. We conclude that diverse news recommendations can have a depolarizing capacity for democratic societies.”

You can read the entire article here.

The second publication is the book “Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence and Freedom of Expression: A Policy Manual“, co-authored by Eliska Pirkova, Matthias Kettemann, Marlena Wisniak, Martin Scheinin, Emmi Bevensee, Katie Pentney, Lorna Woods, Lucien Heitz, Bojana Kostic, Krisztina Rozgonyi, Holli Sargeant, Julia Haas, and Vladan Joler. You can read the full book here.