A space for reflection and experimentation

The SCRIPTS Forum is a central innovation of the cluster’s second funding period. Held annually, it provides a reflexive space for experimental and interdisciplinary engagement with SCRIPTS’ research agenda. Each year, cluster members propose a thematic focus that invites new perspectives on ongoing debates around the liberal script and its contestations. The Forum creatively links academic research with knowledge exchange and public dialogue.

2026 Forum: AI Governance and Political Order

The current SCRIPTS Forum, “Emergent Digital (Dis-)Orders: AI Governance between Liberal and Authoritarian Scripts,” examines how artificial intelligence and digital technologies are reshaping global political order. Led by Principal Investigators Anita Gohdes and Genia Kostka, the Forum focuses on contestations surrounding AI governance across liberal and authoritarian contexts.

AI is not merely a technical innovation but a political instrument. Depending on how it is governed, it can promote transparency, participation, and democratic accountability—or enable surveillance, manipulation, and authoritarian control. Taking a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, the Forum explores how different political systems develop, regulate, and deploy AI, with particular attention to cases such as China, the United States, and Europe. By exploring AI’s implications on freedom, equality, and resource allocation, the Forum bridges SCRIPTS’ research on technology, liberal allocation, and contestations of political order.

Through lectures, workshops, policy simulations, collaborative research projects, and public outreach activities, the Forum brings together scholars, students, policymakers, and practitioners. Its aim is to advance the understanding of AI governance while fostering informed debate on the political, social, and ethical implications of digital technologies.