Hochschule Karlsruhe Hochschule Karlsruhe - University of Applied Sciences
Hochschule Karlsruhe Hochschule Karlsruhe - University of Applied Sciences

Symposium "The Fabrication of Truth": All talks now online!

On October 24, 2025, the symposium "The Fabrication of Truth" took place at the ZKM | Karlsruhe, where around 250 participants discussed disinformation, artificial intelligence and the handling of truth. The talks of all experts are now available online as videos!

|

For further information on the symposium, please refer to the detailed news article on the event.

Welcoming remarks
Mayor Dr. Albert Käuflein, Sandra Boser MdL (video message), Alistair Hudson and Prof. Dr. Matthias Wölfel opened the symposium and provided insights into the significance, objectives and thematic framework of the event.
Watch the video here

Generative AI and deepfakes: social impact and regulation
Dr. Murat Karaboga, political scientist at Fraunhofer ISI, shed light on the social impact of generative AI and deepfakes, presented challenges, potentials and regulations and outlined the need for further political action.
Watch the video here

Facts versus fakes: Why we still need the truth
Franziska Roth, Editor-in-Chief of SWR, showed how AI content, populism and disinformation undermine the basis of reliable truths and why quality journalism, transparency and trust remain key.
Watch the video here

Lying with the truth!
Alex Wiegmann and Louisa Reins presented experiments with children and adults on paradoxical forms of lying - when true statements are misleading or untrue statements are deliberate - and showed how differently people recognize and evaluate lies.
Note: At the request of the speakers, only the first part of Alex Wiegmann's presentation can be seen.
Click here for the video

From fake to truth: How journalists verify news in the age of AI
Julius Sandmann, AI manager at Badische Neueste Nachrichten, explained how generative AI makes fakes easier and which tools and strategies journalists can use for verification and quality assurance.
Watch the video here

Hallucination or manipulation? LLMs in the context of fake news
Prof. Dr. Jannik Strötgen explained the causes of LLM "hallucinations", highlighted mechanisms of targeted manipulation ("LLM grooming") and discussed research strategies for curbing AI-based disinformation.
Watch the video here

Pattern-Based Detection of Linguistic Threats
Prof. Dr. Matteo Große-Kampmann presented a system for detecting linguistic threat patterns that uses linguistic structures, regular expressions and keywords to identify manipulated or biased texts.
Watch the video here

Between the lines: A linguistic perspective on fake news and AI
Judith Sieker used experiments to show how false presuppositions subtly spread misinformation and why implicit assumptions can also deceive AI models - even if they have extensive factual knowledge.
Watch the video here

How algorithms guide our thinking and why this is a threat to democracy
Ada Rhode, AI trainer and journalist, explained how algorithmic recommendation systems influence the way we form opinions, what risks this poses for democracy and how media and democratic literacy can be strengthened.
Watch the video here

Truth in Transition - Enlightenment in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
In the interactive panel, students, school administrators, researchers and experts discussed how to deal with disinformation and showed how media literacy, technical innovation and social responsibility can promote digital literacy.
Watch the video here

PLEASE WHAT?! - Countering hate, hate speech and disinformation in and out of school
Carl Postelmann and Thomas Kiefer presented materials and workshops from the "PLEASE WHAT?!" campaign and showed how learning spaces can sensitize children and young people to hate, hate speech and disinformation.
Click here for the video

The SchoolCrime podcast
SaskiaNakari explained digital border crossings in the school environment, described legal principles and showed how teachers, parents and pupils can react to strengthen protection and prevention.
Watch the video here

Shady types and combative truth-seekers: How films shape the public image of journalism
Dr. Oliver Langewitz used film examples to analyse how journalism is used dramaturgically to negotiate truth, lies and information content and to make social dynamics visible.
Watch the video here

Science in the network of disinformation: The role of digital media and AI
Ennio Brandt examined organized hostility towards science and showed how AI acts as an amplifier of epistemic disinformation - for example in climate change denial - and what consequences this has for social polarization and trust in science.
Watch the video here

We would like to thank the Carl Zeiss Foundation for sponsoring the symposium and the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe for their support with the video recordings!