WASP-HS

Human Futures, Machine Pasts: Rethinking AI through Cultural Memory and Imagination
2026-05-27 10:15 (Europe/Stockholm)
In partnership with The Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, WASP-HS launches an international research initiative on the global context of AI. Human Futures – AI Transitions in a Global Context is carried out in collaboration with Tokyo College and the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS, South Africa). Running from 2026 to 2027, the initiative brings together scholars from a range of disciplines to examine the broader transformations associated with the rapid development and deployment of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems across different global contexts.
As part of this series we are welcoming you to the open lecture “Human Futures, Machine Pasts: Rethinking AI through Cultural Memory and Imagination” on May 27, 2026. Keynote speaker is Anna Foka, Professor of Digital Humanities, Uppsala University

Abstract
The opening keynote explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping not only the way societies imagine the future but also how we understand the past and define humanity itself. Drawing from cultural heritage, digital humanities, and critical AI studies, it argues that the technologies driving automation and prediction are deeply entangled with inherited cultural narratives, biases, and epistemologies. By tracing the historical continuities between past imaginaries of intelligence and today’s algorithmic systems, the lecture highlights the need for interdisciplinary approaches that foreground ethics, creativity, and global diversity. Ultimately, it asks how the humanities can help us reclaim agency and meaning in an increasingly automated world—turning AI from an object of control into a shared space of interpretation and reflection.
Registration
Pre-registration for the physical event (not Zoom) is required by 25 May 2026 at the latest.

Registrer

Anna Foka

Professor of Digital Humanities, Uppsala University

About Anna Foka
Anna Foka is Professor of Digital Humanities at Uppsala University and research leader och the WASP-HS research environments AI Futures of Culture and Memory. She is National Mentor for AI in the Swedish South Korea Collaboration in the Research and Innovation Programme (SKERIC). Foka’s work focuses on the cultural and ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence, digital heritage, and interdisciplinary methods across the humanities and technology. She has published widely on digital transformation in museums, archives, and cultural institutions, and currently leads several international projects on AI, sustainability, and cultural knowledge infrastructures. Her latest books are AI and Image (Cambridge University Press) and Evolving Perspectives in Digital Classics (Routledge).

PhD Defense: The Development of Complex Intelligent Systems: A Study of Engineering and Project Management Approaches
2026-05-29 09:00 - 17:00 | A2, A-building, Campus Valla, Linköping, Sweden
On 29 May 2026, Appu Balachandran defends his doctoral thesis, “The Development of Complex Intelligent Systems: A Study of Engineering and Project Management Approaches“, at Linköping University.
See event page.
Abstract
Advances in software and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly transforming society. Many of the systems that underpin everyday life, such as aircraft, vehicles, energy systems, and transportation infrastructure, are complex technical systems that are becoming increasingly software-intensive. As these systems gain the ability to make decisions, learn from data, and adapt to their environment, they evolve into what this thesis refers to as Complex Intelligent Systems (CoIS).
This thesis examines how the development of such systems is changing as software and AI grow in importance, with a particular focus on engineering and project management approaches. Traditionally, complex systems have been developed using systems engineering, often supported by model-based approaches to ensure structured, traceable, and predictable development. At the same time, development projects have typically been organized through phase-based Stage-Gate processes.
However, the growing integration of software and AI has led to the emergence of data-driven engineering approaches and more iterative and flexible agile practices. This thesis investigates how these different approaches interact in the development of CoIS.
The study is based on interviews with experts from the aviation, automotive, and naval industries, complemented by an in-depth case study in the automotive domain. The findings show that the development of CoIS rarely involves replacing established approaches with new ones. Instead, organizations need to combine multiple approaches simultaneously. Model-based approaches remain essential for safety-critical systems, while data-driven and agile approaches are required to support learning and adaptability. This creates fundamental tensions between predictability and control on the one hand, and learning and flexibility on the other. The thesis contributes to understanding these tensions by showing that it is not only merely a practical or methodological challenge, but rooted in fundamentally different underlying logics of development embedded in the approaches used.
The results also highlight the role of system architecture as a key mechanism for managing this complexity. By structuring systems appropriately, organizations can combine different development approaches without compromising safety or functionality. Overall, the main challenge is not choosing a single approach, but managing the interplay between multiple approaches across both the system and the organization.
This thesis contributes by providing an integrated perspective on the development of CoIS and by identifying the organizational and managerial challenges that arise when different development logics intersect. As CoIS development is still evolving, further research is needed to understand how organizations can develop the capabilities required to manage these dynamics over time and across industries.
See full thesis.
Supervisors
Gunnar Holmberg, Adj. Professor, Linköping University (Main supervisor)Nicolette Lakemond, Professor, Linköping University (Co-supervisor)Gouthanan Pushpananthan, Assistant Professor, Linköping University (Co-supervisor)
Opponent
Tobias Larsson, Professor, Blekinge Institute of Technology.

Workshop - WASP-HS Research Environment “The Rule of AI”
2026-06-01 09:30 - 17:30 | Örebro University, Room T137
The WASP-HS Research Environment “The Rule of AI” explores both the regulation of AI and the ways AI is transforming regulatory processes. The researchers examine the dynamics shaping AI governance, as well as AI’s role in compliance and policy implementation. At this first interdisciplinary workshop the researchers will present their current research and discuss opportunities for future collaboration. All interested researchers are warmly welcomed.
Program

See program

Registration
Please register for the event to participate.

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The Rule of AI
Want to know more about the WASP-HS Research Environment The Rule of AI?

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PhD Defense: Repairing Creative AI: Critical explorations of frictions, reconfigurations, and reflexivity
2026-06-02 14:00 - 17:00 | Flodis (F3), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Lindstedtsvägen 26 & 28, Stockholm, Sweden
On 2 June 2026, Anna-Kaisa Kaila defends her doctoral thesis, “Repairing Creative AI: Critical explorations of frictions, reconfigurations, and reflexivity“, at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
See event page.
Abstract
The impact of AI technologies on cultural and creative sectors and industries is expected to increase dramatically in the upcoming years. As significant uncertainties rattle the political economy of artmaking, not all stakeholders feel their interests and concerns are equally recognised. At stake here are not only individual career prospects but the entire horizon of our envisioned cultural-technological futures.

This dissertation examines artificial intelligence (AI) models in creative domains, focusing on their emerging impact on the conditions and infrastructures of artistic work. It frames the transition of this socio-technical system as an instance of a broken world, and extends Creative AI ethics beyond abstract principles towards the situated, lived experiences of the various stakeholders involved: artists and music communities, as well as developers and service providers of Creative AI applications. Grounded on critical analysis and ethics of care, the dissertation explores the tensions and transitions practising artists experience in their working environments in the context of rapid AI proliferation, and how AI development work practices could better support artists in navigating the rapidly changing socio-technical AI landscape.
Drawing on six empirical case studies, the dissertation contributes, first, an analysis of the frictions and reconfigured conditions of artmaking, as experienced by Nordic AI artists in the early 2020s. Second, it introduces care ethics to the analysis of Creative AI and proposes sustained reflexive repair as a novel conceptual lens for managing disrupted cultural data relations in AI development. Overall, the dissertation argues that foregrounding repair can make the emergent ethical impacts of AI technologies and practices visible and help reconfigure paradigms for developing, designing, using, and regulating Creative AI that foster fair market conditions for artist economies and cultivate artistic integrity and agency.

See full thesis.
Supervisors
André Holzapfel, Associate professor, Medieteknik och interaktionsdesign Bob Sturm, Associate professor, Tal, musik och hörselCecilia Åsberg, Professor, Linköping University
Opponent
Baptiste Caramiaux, PhD, ISIR, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France

Navigating Uncertain Futures – Sensemaking with AI in Complex System Planning
2026-06-05 13:15 - 17:00
Elinor Särner defends her doctoral thesis, “Repairing Creative AI: Critical explorations of frictions, reconfigurations, and reflexivity“, on June 5, 2026, at Linköping University.
See event page.
Abstract
Technological development is an integral part of human life that both shape and is shaped by society. In today’s volatile society, anticipating and interpreting emerging changes is crucial to face future challenges. The predictive abilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can support planning in such conditions. Yet AI adoption remains slow in sectors such as energy systems, and urban development, which are characterized by entangled dependencies, critical social services, and multiple involved actors and stakeholders, making planning and management challenging. This thesis addresses key questions about how AI, which relies on historical data, can support future-oriented planning processes in such complex systems. From an innovation management point of view, AI integration is organizationally challenging, shaped by interacting internal and external dynamics – such as tasks, workflows, technical prerequisites, and societal trends – calling for a holistic socio-technical perspective to ensure feasibility and desirability.
This thesis promotes “cooperative intelligence” emphasizing humans’ and AI’s reciprocal dependencies. AI-integration in complex system planning relies on collective sensemaking, especially in the process of constructing meaning of potential futures and identifying possible actions to shape those futures. AI’s predictive ability can guide the navigation of uncertainty and ambiguity in this process and contribute as boundary objects in mediating meaning across domain and organizational boundaries. However, it can also embed historic conditions and introduce new uncertainties. This duality calls for conscious involvement and negotiation among diverse actors.
This thesis sets out to explore how humans together with AI make sense of potential futures in complex system planning building on two empirical studies in the Swedish energy sector. The first study follows the development of an AI-prototype to assist planning of energy systems in new city districts. The second study investigates the implementation of an AI-tool to assess impacts of societal trends on the future energy system.
The thesis contributes to existing literature by informing how AI connects temporal dynamics of imagination and action in human-AI cooperation, how it reconfigures cross-boundary collaboration, develops the notion of intelligent boundary objects, and how organizational structures need to evolve. It contributes to innovation management research, detailing how AI-integration shapes prospective sensemaking and strengthens organizational planning capabilities.
See full thesis.
Supervisors
Anna Yström, Professor at the Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping UniversitySusanne Ollila, Professor, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Technology Management and Economics
Opponent
Kirsimarja Blomqvist, Professor of Knowledge Management, LUT University Business School

The Impact of AI on White Collar Work
2026-06-10 12:00 - 2026-06-11 13:00 | Katrinelunds Gästgiveri & Sjökrog
Please note that this event is independently organized by WASP-HS researchers and not the WASP-HS Program Office.

This is the fourth interdisciplinary conference about the use of artificial intelligence in white collar work and implications for the labour market. White collar work is increasingly important in employment. Meanwhile, it performs a number of tasks that are susceptible to AI-induced automation. At the conference, researchers will present their current research. We welcome researchers in economics, computer-science, informatics, statistics, management, law, sociology, and other related fields. To benefit the research presented, we aim for an active and close interaction between participants, akin to a workshop.

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AI, Structural Change and the Future of Work

The conference is partly hosted by the WASP-HS research environment AI, Structural Change and the Future of Work.

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PhD Defense: The Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence: Actor Preferences, Bargaining Dynamics, and Institutional Design
2026-06-12 13:00 - 15:00 | Hörsal 10 (auditorium), Building E, Stockholm University, Universitetsvägen 10 E, Stockholm, Sweden
On 12 June 2026, Johannes Geith defends his doctoral thesis, “The Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence: Actor Preferences, Bargaining Dynamics, and Institutional Design“, at Stockholm University.
See event page.
Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses one of the most consequential governance challenges of the 21st century. Consequently, a range of actors, including states, international organizations, and non-state actors, recognize AI as a critical domain for strategic competition and risk mitigation. While policymakers around the world grapple with the question of whether and how to regulate AI, the focus of attention has recently shifted to the global level. Yet to date, we lack systematic knowledge about the patterns and drivers of global AI governance. To that end, this dissertation provides a systematic analysis of three areas of the governance process that hold considerable promise for deepening our understanding of the global governance of AI: actor preferences, bargaining dynamics, and institutional design. Through four independent papers, this dissertation makes substantive theoretical and empirical contributions to address shortcomings in prior research.
Theoretically, it develops novel and testable arguments about the global governance of AI. Empirically, it spearheads a comprehensive analysis of global AI governance through large-scale data collection efforts for each of the singular papers, utilizing various methods for descriptive and explanatory analysis. The dissertation finds that global AI governance is characterized by three core patterns: heterogeneous actors, institutional fragmentation, and a predominance of non-binding rules. Two factors emerge consistently across the papers as drivers of these patterns: divergence of interests among relevant actors and uncertainty about AI. This dissertation makes contributions to three overarching bodies of literature: AI governance, global digital governance, and global governance.
See full thesis.
Supervisors
Jonas Tallberg, Stockholm UniversityMagnus Lundgren, University of Gothenburg
Opponent
Daniel Nielson, The University of Texas at Austin

AI and Society: Fresh Perspectives from PhD Graduates
2026-06-16 16:00 - 17:00 | Zoom
A new batch WASP-HS PhD students have defended their thesis adding to the growing perspectives an insight into the implications and entanglements of AI for society and humanity. We welcome you to the third event in the WASP-HS seminar series AI and Society: Fresh Perspectives from PhD Graduates where PhD students who have recently defended their thesis present their new findings.

Program

Frictions and Fractures: Repairing Creative AIAnna-Kaisa Kaila

Human–AI Cooperation in Complex PlanningElinor Särner

The idea of responsible tech sounds great in theory, but who actually takes the responsibility for developing the tech worth building? Kristina Popova

Diverging Laws on Health Data GovernanceZhicheng He

How AI Changes Science at NASA Alicja Ostrowska

Skin that No Longer FitsDominika Lisy

Registration
Please register to take part of the event.

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Summer School 2026 — Algorithmic Power and Discourse: AI, Politics, and the Production of Meaning
2026-08-17 13:00 - 2026-08-21 12:00
Photo: Mattias Pettersson
Welcome to the WASP-HS Summer School 2026 where we will explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping power, politics, and the production of meaning in contemporary society. This year, the summer school is hosted by the WASP-HS research environment AI, Power and Politics and the DIGSUM Centre for Digital Social Research at Umeå Universiy.
Artificial intelligence is not only a technological development but a transformative force in how knowledge is produced, circulated, and legitimised. From algorithmic decision-making to generative AI, these systems increasingly shape public discourse, political processes, and societal governance. This raises fundamental questions about power, authority, and the conditions under which truth and meaning are constructed.
This summer school creates a forum for WASP-HS PhD students where they can engage critically with these developments. Participants will explore how AI systems operate as infrastructures of power and as “discourse machines” that influence how societies understand themselves, their pasts, and their futures.
The program brings together theoretical perspectives from the humanities and social sciences to examine how artificial intelligence reshapes power, politics, and societal meaning-making. Through lectures, workshops, and collaborative discussions, participants will take a critical perspective on AI as a socio-political force, exploring its implications for knowledge, governance, and public life.

Thematic Areas
The thematic areas covered during the summer school are:
– Algorithmic power and political economyAI as infrastructure of control, dependency, and profit
– Discourse, knowledge and meaning-makingAI systems as producers and mediators of knowledge and truth
– Platforms, disinformation and information environmentsAlgorithmic amplification, generative AI, and the dynamics of public discourse
– Governance, legitimacy and regulationDemocratic challenges in AI-driven decision-making

Learning Outcomes
Throughout the summer school, participants will:
– Develop a nuanced understanding of artificial intelligence as a socio-political force shaping contemporary societies
– Critically examine how AI systems influence discourse, knowledge production, and relations of power
– Strengthen their ability to engage in and contribute to interdisciplinary dialogue across fields
– Build lasting academic networks within the WASP-HS community

Preliminary Program

– Monday, 17 August
13:00 – 13:15 Welcome and introductionHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
13:15 – 14:00 Introduction to Critical AI StudiesSimon LindgrenHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
14:00 – 15:00 Working GroupsSimon LindgrenHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
15:00 – 15:15 CoffeeD-corridor
15:15 – 16:00 Discourse Machines: Power and Knowledge in the Age of Large Language ModelsSimon LindgrenHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
17:00 Exhibition Tour: AI and the Paradox of AgencyBildmuseet
18:00- Mingle and finger food Bygden restaurant (adjacent to Bildmuseet)

Tuesday, 18 August
08:45 – 09:45 Critical Legal Perspectives on AI – An IntroductionMarkus NaarttijärviHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
09:45 – 10:45 AI and EU Law – Between Data Protection and the AI ActLena EnqvistHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
10:45 – 11:00 CoffeeD-Corridor
10:00 – 12:00 Regulating Speech – Moderating AI and AI in ModerationTherese EnarssonHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
12:00 – 13:00 LunchD-Corridor
13:00 – 15:00 Workshop/Roundtable – Legal Perspectives on Your Research ProjectsHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
15:00 – Activities for PhD students arranged by the PhD student council

Wednesday, 19 August
08:45 – 10:45 Learning to do research with AI: rethinking academic practices and doctoral trainingKatherine HarrisonHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
10:45 – 11:00 CoffeeD-corridor
11:00 – 12:00 Digital Humanities and Interdisciplinary ResearchKarin DanielssonHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
12:00 – 13:00 LunchD-corridor
13:00 – 13:30 Casting a Queer Eye on AI: Background, Actions and Queer FuturesElina LiljequistHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
13:30 – 15:00 Resisting Bodies in AI: Queer and Decolonial PerspectivesHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
15:00 Coffee
15:15 – 17:00 Tour of Humlab and Workshop: Applying a Queer Perspective on Motion Capture, Bodies and AIHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
19:00 Dinner at Orangeriet, Kungsgatan 71

Thursday, 20 August
08:45 – 09:45 Language, Memory, and the Politics of GenAIMoa Eriksson Krutök and Samuel MerrillHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
09:45 – 10:45 Workshop: ChatBots and Memory Part 1Samuel Merrill, Ruijin Shi, Simon LidgrenHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
10:45 – 11:00 CoffeeD-corridor
11:00 – 12:00 Workshop: ChatBots and Memory Part 2Samuel Merrill, Ruijin Shi, Simon LidgrenHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
13:00 – 14:00 LLMs As an Objective Measureement Tool – What Would Marx Say?Matti NelimarkkaHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
14:00 – 15:00 Workshop: Doing Social Analysis with the Marxist LLMHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
15:00 – 15:15 CoffeeD-corridor
15:15 – 16:15 Workshop: Doing Social Analysis with the Marxist LLMMatti NelimarkkaHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
16:15 – 17:15 WASP-HS Student CouncilHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung

Friday, 21 August
08:45 – 10:45 Final Group WorkSimon LindgrenHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
10:45 – 11:00 CoffeeD-corridor
11:00 – 12:00 PresentationsSimon LindgrenHUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219, Vardagsrummet

Registration
Registration is closed.

AI, Power and Politics
Want to know more about the WASP-HS research environment AI, Power and Politics?

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Workshop: The Politics of Models – Bias, Representation & Transparency in Generative Models
2026-08-25 - 2026-08-27 | Rånäs slott, Rånäs Slott 762 96, 762 96, Sweden
Generative models can capture an abstract representation of various modalities such as sound, images, video, text, and data. These models are now globally utilized for knowledge and content organization and synthesis. The generative AI models are integrated rapidly into research, industry, culture, and the public sectors; where the accelerated growth hinders the considerations into societal implications of these rapid advancements. These models are new forms of knowledge representation, in which the technical choices such as applied ontology or categorizations as well as the data sources and gathering processes, influence, imply, and afford new forms of power and control on representation, history, culture, and knowledge associations. Addressing these issues requires both technical advancement and research as well as societal grounding, awareness in positionality, and critical engagements. This workshop creates a shared space for WASP and WASP-HS researchers with the goal to build interdisciplinary research directions to influence a better and healthier societal integration of generative AI.
Topics
Representation & BiasAnalysis of representation and bias in generative models across modalities – sound, images, video, text, and data.
Power & ControlUnderstanding the new forms of power and control enabled through generative AI over representation, history, and culture.
Transparency & AccountabilityBuilding frameworks for transparent and accountable deployment of generative models in research and society.
Societal AlignmentAligning technical solutions with societal expectations, needs, and values for a healthier integration of AI.

Schedule

August 25: Arrival & Opening
Welcome lunch, introductory sessions, and evening reception at Rånäs Slott. From lunch onwards

August 26: Full Day of Sessions
Keynotes, interdisciplinary panels, collaborative workshops, and research discussions. Full day

August 27: Closing & Departure
Final sessions, synthesis of ideas, future directions, and farewell lunch. Ends with lunch

Expression of interest
Apply by April 17 to secure your spot. This workshop is open to researchers from both WASP and WASP-HS communities interested in the intersection of generative AI and societal implications.
Spots are limited to 20 participants so make sure to fill in the Expression of Interest-form to get a chance to attend. Apply here.

Organizers

Kivanç Tatar, Chalmers University of TechnologyKathlén Kohn, KTH Royal Institute of TechnologyMd Fahim Sikder, Linköping UniversityFrancis Lee, Södertörn UniversityBodil Formark, Södertörn University

Kick-off för WASP-HS Samverkanarena Välfärd
2026-09-02 13:00 - 16:30 | Piperska Muren, Scheelegatan 14, Stockholm, Stockholm, 112 28, Sweden
WASP-HS främjar människocentrerad forskning om AI i samhället och engagerar forskare brett över 15 svenska lärosäten och forskningsinstitut. Den nya satsningen Samverkansarena Välfärd erbjuder mötesplatser där forskare och representanter för offentliga organisationer och myndigheter kan knyta kontakt för att identifiera gemensamma och samhällsaktuella forsknings- och utvecklingsfrågor och forma nya samverkansinitiativ inom AI och välfärd.
Den 2 september 2026 öppnar WASP-HS dörrarna till Piperska Muren i Stockholm för att inviga satsningen Samverkansarena Välfärd med en kick-off. Delar av eventet går även att följa online. Välkommen!

Preliminärt program
13:00 – 13:15 InledningChristofer Edling, Programdirektör WASP-HS, och Helena Lindgren, biträdande Programdirektör och koordinator för Samverkansarena VälfärdStreamas även online
13:15 – 13:45 Panelsamtal: Beslutsfattande med AI-stöd: Handläggarens och medborgarens perspektivModerator: Vanja Carlsson, Göteborgs universitetStreamas även online
13:50 – 14:20 Rundabordssamtal med temabidrag från forskare och verksamhetsföreträdare
14:25 – 14:55 Panelsamtal: Regulatoriska aspekter, upphandling och ansvarModerator: Jenny Eriksson Lundström, Uppsala universitetStreamas även online
14:55 – 15:40 Rundabordssamtal med temabidrag från forskare och verksamhetsföreträdare
15:40 – 16:30 Avslutning och framåtblick: Vad händer härnäst?Moderator: Lupita Svensson, Lunds universitetStreamas även online
Kaffe serveras under hela eftermiddagen.

Registrering
Vi hoppas att du vill vara med på plats och bidra till en energifylld start tillsammans med oss på Piperska Muren. Du kan också bidra genom att ge förslag på teman för rundabordssamtal i formuläret.
Anmälan är öppen till 13 augusti kl.12:00.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Namn *FirstLastEmail *Organisation *Förslag på tema för rundabordssamtalDeltagande *Jag önskar delta på plats på Piperska Muren**Jag önskar delta online***** Observera att antal platser på Piperska Muren är begränsat. Vi kontaktar dig närmare datumet för eventet för att bekräfta ditt deltagande.

*** Till registrerade för att delta online och alla som inte får plats på Piperska Muren skickas e-post med länk för deltagande online närmare eventet.Fika kommer att serveras på eventet, har du några allergier eller kostrestriktioner? *JaNejVänligen specificera din allergi eller kostrestriktion *Jag vill hålla mig uppdaterad om WASP-HS nyheter och aktiviteter genom att prenumerera på det månatliga nyhetsbrevetJaJag prenumererar redanNejGDPR *Jag samtycker till att denna webbplats lagrar den information jag skickat in så att de kan svara på min förfråganFotografering *Jag samtycker till att eventuellt bli fotograferad på plats och att bilderna kan användas i samband med dokumentation inom och kommunikation från WASP-HS(Om du inte önskar vara med på foto, meddela personal på plats)Skicka

Theorizing AI and Society in the Nordics—A Joint WASP-HS & CAISA Workshop
2026-09-28 - 2026-09-30 | Sandhamn, Stockholm, Sandhamn, 130 39 Sandön, Stockholm, Sweden
Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere: in welfare offices and hospital wards, scientific laboratories and school classrooms, customer service chatbots and administrative documentation systems. Hardly a day goes by without new claims being made about AI’s transformative or disruptive powers, accompanied by promises of efficiency, insight, and radical institutional change. In this workshop, WASP-HS together with CAISA, will examine the hype, practices, and politics of “AI” in the context of Nordic societies.
With highly digitalized societies and citizens, digital public sectors, extensive population registers, and long traditions of automation and data-driven governance, Nordic societies have lived with digital and automated systems for decades. Yet AI appears to extend these dynamics by entering the communicative and epistemic core of institutions: analyzing, classifying, writing, advising, summarizing, and interacting across knowledge making practices, from the lab to the welfare office. Following this, we would like to discuss how AI systems reshape knowledge practices and institutions, and what the implications might be for how we theorize AI in society.
Workshop Themes
New Objects of KnowledgeEmerging AI infrastructures do not only detect patterns in data. They also produce new objects of knowledge and intervention through texts, summaries, explanations, simulations, and other outputs. In scientific and institutional settings, these systems can shape the very objects and descriptions through which the world is understood. This raises broader questions about what AI brings into being in data-intensive Nordic societies.
Classification and ValuationWhen computational systems enter knowledge-making and institutional practice, the boundaries of categories begin to shift. People, groups, and objects may be ranked, scored, grouped, and made visible in new ways, creating new hierarchies and forms of valuation. By producing classifications, recommendations, summaries, and evaluations in natural language, these systems may further stabilize and intensify such processes. The workshop therefore asks how AI reshapes both what is classified and valued, and how this is done.
Knowledge Practices and InstitutionsAs AI becomes embedded across organizations and institutions, it changes how knowledge is produced, validated, and circulated. Systems that analyze data, draft reports, respond to citizens, or assist professional reasoning affect how expertise is organized and articulated in practice. In this way, AI enters the communicative and epistemic core of institutions rather than remaining a peripheral technical tool. This opens up broader questions about how societies come to know themselves and the world through computational infrastructures.
Workshop Focus
Drawing on Science and Technology Studies and Organization Studies, this workshop brings together researchers across the Nordic countries to examine what predictive and generative AI are actually doing to institutions, knowledge practices, professional work, state–citizen relations, and collective futures. We are particularly interested in empirically grounded work dealing with knowledge making practices in diverse domains. Empirical examples may include policing, welfare services, healthcare, education, and science. Rather than treating AI as a stable or finished technological object, the workshop asks how these systems are enacted in practice and what this implies for how we can theorize AI in society.
Organizers and Contact
Please contact the organizers if you are interested in participating.
Prof. Francis Lee, Södertorn Universityfrancis@francislee.orgProf. Helene Friis Ratner, Technical University of Denmarkhfrra@dtu.dk
Funded by WASP-HS, Algorithms, Data & Democracy Project (ADD) – VELUX Foundations.

WASP-HS & DDLS: Interdisciplinary Workshop
2026-10-12 - 2026-10-14 | Sigtunastiftelsen, Manfred Björkquists allé 4, Sigtuna, 193 31
WASP-HS & DDLS: Joint Workshop at Sigtunastiftelsen, 12–14 October
This interdisciplinary workshop brings together a carefully selected group of 25 researchers from diverse fields to exchange perspectives on the ethical, legal, and social dimensions of data-intensive research in the life sciences. The conversation is not limited to lawyers and ethicists, but also includes researchers whose work both shapes and is shaped by these governance frameworks. The aim is to bring together diverse expertise to explore key challenges, frame shared research questions, and spark new interdisciplinary collaborations.
Workshop Focus
→ Analyze governance structures and how they shape data-intensive research in precision medicine, epidemiology, infection biology, biodiversity, and molecular life sciences→ Identify key legal, regulatory, and ethical challenges in data-driven life sciences, with particular attention to the experiences of scientists working with these issues in practice→ Promote meaningful dialogue across disciplines→ Develop new interdisciplinary research initiatives
Duration
12 OctoberArrival and opening from lunch onwards
13 OctoberFull day of sessions
14 OctoberClosing and departure ending with lunch
Expression of Interest
Apply by 4 May to secure your spot. This workshop is open to researchers from both the WASP-HS and DDLS communities. Spots are limited to 25 participants, so make sure to fill in the Expression of Interest form to get a chance to attend.
Apply here.
Organizers
Lianne Colonna, Stockholm UniversityYana Litins’ka, Lund UniversityHeidi Howard, SciLifeLabFrancis Lee, Södertörn UniversityUlrika Wallenquist, SciLifeLabBodil Formark, Södertörn University

AI for Humanity and Society 2026
2026-11-10 12:00 - 2026-11-11 12:15
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Robots and Autonomous Systems in Everyday Life

How can we live amidst and with robots? How do they impact human work and our understanding of social relationships and societal values? Complex organizational work is needed to make robot fleets run smoothly and bring forward societal concerns about care, safety and responsibility. Join the WASP-HS conference AI for Humanity and Society 2026 themed “Robots and Autonomous Systems in Everyday Life”.
Robots and autonomous systems have left the laboratories and are now entering homes, schools, hospitals and public spaces. They are becoming part of everyday life. Being a material and mobile manifestation of artificial intelligence, robots raise new questions about autonomy and agency in relationships with individuals.
This year’s conference, Robots and Autonomous Systems in Everyday Life, will explore how individuals, organizations, and societies are impacted when robots enter our daily life, shedding light on how humans work to make autonomous systems at home in the world. WASP-HS welcomes researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and civil society to come together to make sense of emerging developments and to discuss agendas for humane futures with autonomous systems and AI. Through panels, keynotes and an interactive reception, we will engage with topics such as coordination and interaction with robots as a form of embodied AI, robots in education, regulatory and policy issues related to autonomous systems, as well as the roles robots and autonomous systems may play in care and crisis.
The WASP-HS AI for Humanity and Society 2026 conference fosters human-centered perspectives on robots and autonomous systems, offering a space to examine emerging challenges and to jointly imagine possible futures — where robots and autonomous systems can foster human relationships, contribute to inclusive public spaces, and stimulate meaningful work. We warmly welcome you to join us in Linköping at Mjärdevi Science Park (Teknikringen 7) on November 10–11, 2026.

Keynotes

Steve Benford

Dunford Professor of Computer Science, University of Nottingham And UKRI Turing AI World Leading Research Fellow

Janet Vertesi

Associate Professor, Princeton University and Associate Director of the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education

Preliminary Conference Program

Tuesday, November 10
12:00 Registration opens
13:00–13:15 Welcome and introduction
13:15–14:00 Panel 1: Coordinating Human and Robot BodiesModerator: Valentina Fantasia, Lund UniversityOskar Lindwall, University of GothenburgJuliene Madureira Ferreira, Tampere UniversityMadeline Balaam, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
14:15–15:00 Panel 2: Educational Robots and AIModerator: Ali Reza Majlesi, Karolinska InstitutetGinevra Castellano, Uppsala UniversityLinnéa Stenliden, Linköping UniversitySofia Serholt, University of Gothenburg
15:00–15:30 Coffee Break
15:30–16:15 Opening KeynoteSteve Benford, University of Nottingham And UKRI Turing AI World Leading Research Fellow
16:30–18:30 Interactive ReceptionParticipants are welcome to explore live demonstrations where researchers and partners showcase robots, prototypes, and concepts. Attendees experience robots and engage with WASP-HS research in a hands‑on setting.

Wednesday, November 11
08:30 Registration opens
09:00–9:15 Welcome and Opening
09:15–10:00 Panel 3: Policy and Regulation of RobotsModerator: Stefan Larsson, Lund UniversityCilli Sobiech, Swedish National Road and Transport Research InstituteBarry Brown, University of Copenhagen & Stockholm UniversityEduard Fosch-Villaronga, Leiden UniversityMartin Ebers, WASP-HS Guest Professor, Örebro University
10:00–10:15 Coffee Break
10:30–11.15 Panel 4: Robots and AI in Care and CrisisModerator: Helena Lindgren, Co-Director of WASP-HS, Umeå UniversityJessica Lindblom, Uppsala UniversityMax Gordon, Karolinska InstitutetJesper Tordenlid, Combitech, Project Leader WASP Research Arena Public Safety
11:15-12:00 Closing KeynoteJanet Vertesi, Princeton University and Associate Director of the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education
12:00-12:15 Closing and announcement of 2027 conference

Registration
Registration opens September 8 and closes October 22.

Conference Chairs

Hannah Pelikan

Assistant Professor at Linköping University and a Pro Futura Scientia Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study.

Airi Lampinen

Associate Professor in Human–Computer Interaction at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University.

Winter Conference 2027
2027-02-10 09:00 - 2027-02-12 12:00 | Universitetshuset, Uppsala University
About

Exchange

Posters

Workshops

Program

Registration

Featuring workshops, poster presentations, and interactive discussions, the conference provides plenty of opportunities to network and exchange ideas. We welcome PhD students, alumni, supervisors, and the broader WASP-HS community to the WASP-HS Winter Conference 2027. This year, the conference will take place at Universitetshuset at Uppsala University.

WASP-HS Annual Exchange
The WASP-HS annual exchange is a conversation between an renowned researchers and WASP-HS PhD students and alumni. More information about the WASP-HS annual exchange 2027 will be added closer to the date of the event.

Poster Sessions
Poster sessions, hosted by the PhD students, will take place during the conference. More information about the conference will be added closer to the date of the event.

Workshops
Interactive workshops, hosted by the PhD students, will take place during the conference. More information about the workshops will be added closer to the date of the event.

Program
The progran will be added closer to the date of the event.

Registration
Registration will open closer to the date of the event.
