Head of the Ethical Innovation Hub
Dr.-Ing. Christian Herzog

Institute for Electrical Engineering in Medicine
Ratzeburger Allee 160
23562 Lübeck
Gebäude 64,
Raum 0.106
Email: | christian.herzog(at)uni-luebeck.de |
Phone: | +49 451 3101 6211 |
Research Interests
- Ethics of technology, esp. ethical and societal aspects of artificial intelligence
- Transdisciplinary and participative research for Responsible Research & Innovation in practice
- Scholarship of teaching in engineering ethics
- Explainable, probabilistic graphical models for inference algorithms
Curriculum Vitae
I am a transdisciplinary researcher originally trained at Hamburg University of Technology, Germany, were I received my B.Sc and M.Sc. degrees in Mechatronics in 2008 and 2011. I also did my Ph.D. at the Institute of Control Systems of the same university, focusing on the robust and parameter-varying control of nonlinear and interconnected systems. Since 2015 I have been holding a tenured position at the Institute for Electrical Engineering in Medicine at the University of Lübeck. While having engaged in the ethics and sustainability issues of technology by conducting peer-to-peer teaching since 2011, from 2016 I have begun to professionally shift my research focus towards the ethics of engineering, innovative technologies and artificial intelligence in particular. In that course, I have also received my M.A. in Applied and Professional Ethics from the University of Leeds. I commit to teaching engineering ethics, promoting broad and inclusive participation in technology development as well as researching and fostering interdisciplinary approaches in engineering research for the benefit of our world's ecology and society.
Memberships and Commitments
6/2020– | Member, Expert Council AI@Society of the State Government, Schleswig-Holstein |
12/2019 | "Make Bureaucracy Great Again?!" with Jan Philipp Albrecht |
07/2019 | Co-organization of mini-symposium “Ethical Design Considerations in MedTech” at the EMBC |
2018–2019 | Co-Host of "Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning" Session at Lübeck Summer Academy on Medical Technology |
2018– | Working group on "Artificial Intelligence" of the German Institute for Standardization |
02/2018 | "Machines and Morals" with Dr. Robert Habeck |
2016–2017 | Member of the "Dialog Forum Ethik" of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lübeck |
2014 | Member, IEEE, Society on Social Implications of Technology |
2012 | Member, IEEE, Control Systems Society |
Awards
2018 | Innovation Award of the "Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Krankenhaustechnik e.V. (WGKT)", (for a supervised bachelor thesis) |
2018 | Best Paper Award (Runner up), AUTOMED |
2017 | Walter-Dosch Lehrpreis, Universität zu Lübeck |
2012 | Nordmetall-Foundation Award, Best Master's Thesis |
2008 | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Erich Müller Scholarship |
2008 | General Engineering Award of Hamburg University of Technology |
Academic Career
2018–2020 | Master of Arts in Applied & Professional Ethics, University of Leeds, with Distinction |
01/2020– | Head of the Ethical Innovation Hub, University of Lübeck |
04/2015– | Research Fellow at the Institute for Electrical Engineering in Medicine, University of Lübeck |
2015 | Dr.-Ing in Control Theory, Hamburg University of Technology, Summa Cum Laude |
2011–2015 | Research Associate at the Institute of Control Systems, Hamburg University of Technology |
2011 | Master of Science in Mechatronics, Hamburg University of Technology, with Distinction |
2010– | Founding Member, Blue Engineering Group, Hamburg University of Technology |
2008 | Bachelor of Science in General Engineering Science, Hamburg University of Technology |
Publications
For a complete list of my publications (most of which published under my birth name "Hoffmann) including topics from engineering, control theory and probabilistic inference, please visit my page at the Institute for Electrical Engineering in Medicine.
On the Ethical and Epistemological Utility of Explicable AI in Medicine, Philosophy & Technology , vol. 35, no. 50, pp. 31, 2022.
DOI: | 10.1007/s13347-022-00546-y |
File: | s13347-022-00546-y |
Bibtex: | ![]() @article{Herzog2022c, title = {On the Ethical and Epistemological Utility of Explicable AI in Medicine}, volume = {35}, copyright = {All rights reserved}, issn = {2210-5433, 2210-5441}, url = {https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13347-022-00546-y}, doi = {10.1007/s13347-022-00546-y}, language = {en}, number = {50}, urldate = {2022-05-30}, journal = {Philosophy & Technology}, author = {Herzog, Christian}, month = jun, year = {2022}, pages = {31} } |
Integrating Ethical Considerations Into Innovation Design, in Innovation Design for the Future of Health – Entrepreneurial Strategies and Development Concepts towards Patient Empowerement and Health Democratisation , Springer, 2022.
Digitally Aided Sovereignty – A Suitable Guide for the e-Government Transformation?, in Weizenbaum Conference 2022 - Practicing Sovereignty , Berlin, Germany , 2022.
Everything you Want to Know and Never Dared to ask – A Practical Approach to Employing Challenge-Based Learning in Engineering Ethics, Barcelona, Spain , 2022.
Teaching Estimation and Control via Probabilistic Graphical Models – An Intuitive and Problem-Based Approach, in IFAC Symposium on Advances in Control Education 2022 , Hamburg, Germany: IFAC, 2022.
Teaching Ethics Through the Back Door? – Employing Ideas From Assemblage Theory to Foster a Responsible Innovation Mindset, Barcelona, Spain , 2022.
Responsible and Regulatory Conform Machine Learning for Medicine: A Survey of Challenges and Solutions, IEEE Access , 2022.
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3178382 |
Bibtex: | ![]() @article{Petersen-Herzog2022, title = {Responsible and Regulatory Conform Machine Learning for Medicine: A Survey of Challenges and Solutions}, copyright = {All rights reserved}, shorttitle = {Responsible and Regulatory Conform Machine Learning for Medicine}, journal = {IEEE Access}, author = {Petersen, Eike and Potdevin, Yannik and Mohammadi, Esfandiar and Zidowitz, Stephan and Breyer, Sabrina and Nowotka, Dirk and Henn, Sandra and Pechmann, Ludwig and Leucker, Martin and Rostalski, Philipp and Herzog, Christian}, year = {2022}, note = {arXiv: 2107.09546}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3178382}, issn = {2169-3536}, keywords = {Computer Science - Machine Learning, Computer Science - Computers and Society, I.2.6, I.5, J.3} } |
On formal ethics versus inclusive moral deliberation, AI and Ethics , 2021.
DOI: | 10.1007/s43681-021-00045-4 |
File: | s43681-021-00045-4 |
Bibtex: | ![]() @article{Herzog2021b, author = {Herzog, Christian}, doi = {10.1007/s43681-021-00045-4}, issn = {2730-5953}, journal = {AI and Ethics}, month = {March}, title = {On formal ethics versus inclusive moral deliberation}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43681-021-00045-4}, year = {2021} } |
On the risk of confusing interpretability with explicability, AI and Ethics , 2021.
DOI: | 10.1007/s43681-021-00121-9 |
File: | s43681-021-00121-9 |
Bibtex: | ![]() @article{Herzog2021e, title = {On the risk of confusing interpretability with explicability}, copyright = {All rights reserved}, issn = {2730-5953, 2730-5961}, url = {https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43681-021-00121-9}, doi = {10.1007/s43681-021-00121-9}, abstract = {Abstract This Comment explores the implications of a lack of tools that facilitate an explicable utilization of epistemologically richer, but also more involved white-box approaches in AI. In contrast, advances in explainable artificial intelligence for black-box approaches have led to the availability of semi-standardized and attractive toolchains that offer a seemingly competitive edge over inherently interpretable white-box models in terms of intelligibility towards users. Consequently, there is a need for research on efficient tools for rendering interpretable white-box approaches in AI explicable to facilitate responsible use.}, language = {en}, urldate = {2021-12-17}, journal = {AI and Ethics}, author = {Herzog, Christian}, month = {Dec}, year = {2021} } |
Three Risks That Caution Against a Premature Implementation of Artificial Moral Agents for Practical and Economical Use, Science and Engineering Ethics , vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 3, 2021.
DOI: | 10.1007/s11948-021-00283-z |
File: | s11948-021-00283-z |
Bibtex: | ![]() @article{Herzog2021, abstract = {In the present article, I will advocate caution against developing artificial moral agents (AMAs) based on the notion that the utilization of preliminary forms of AMAs will potentially negatively feed back on the human social system and on human moral thought itself and its value—e.g., by reinforcing social inequalities, diminishing the breadth of employed ethical arguments and the value of character. While scientific investigations into AMAs pose no direct significant threat, I will argue against their premature utilization for practical and economical use. I will base my arguments on two thought experiments. The first thought experiment deals with the potential to generate a replica of an individual's moral stances with the purpose to increase, what I term, 'moral efficiency'. Hence, as a first risk, an unregulated utilization of premature AMAs in a neoliberal capitalist system is likely to disadvantage those who cannot afford 'moral replicas' and further reinforce social inequalities. The second thought experiment deals with the idea of a 'moral calculator'. As a second risk, I will argue that, even as a device equally accessible to all and aimed at augmenting human moral deliberation, 'moral calculators' as preliminary forms of AMAs are likely to diminish the breadth and depth of concepts employed in moral arguments. Again, I base this claim on the idea that the current most dominant economic system rewards increases in productivity. However, increases in efficiency will mostly stem from relying on the outputs of 'moral calculators' without further scrutiny. Premature AMAs will cover only a limited scope of moral argumentation and, hence, over-reliance on them will narrow human moral thought. In addition and as the third risk, I will argue that an increased disregard of the interior of a moral agent may ensue—a trend that can already be observed in the literature.}, author = {Herzog, Christian}, doi = {10.1007/s11948-021-00283-z}, issn = {1353-3452}, journal = {Science and Engineering Ethics}, month = {feb}, number = {1}, pages = {3}, title = {Three Risks That Caution Against a Premature Implementation of Artificial Moral Agents for Practical and Economical Use}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11948-021-00283-z}, volume = {27}, year = {2021} } |
Three European experiences of co-creating ethical solutions to real-world problems through Challenge-Based Learning, in Emerald Handbook on Challenge-Based Learning , 2021.
Challenge-based Learning for Robotics Students by Engaging Start-Ups in Technology Ethics, in Reflecting Technology in Academic Teaching. Workshop on Teaching Environmental, Societal, and Ethical Dimensions of Technological Change , Karlsruhe , 2021.
Practical and Moral Challenges for the Project of Formal Ethics, in CEPE/IACAP Joint Conference 2021: The Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence , Hamburg, Germany , 2021.
Akzeptanzfragen bei KI-basierter Medizintechnik, 2021.
Should Ethics be Formalized? - And if so, What for?, Master's Thesis, University of Leeds, Master's Thesis at the University of Leeds, Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, United Kingdom, 2020.
Should We Build Artificial Moral Agents?, Project Work Thesis, University of Leeds, Projekt Work Thesis at the University of Leeds, Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, United Kingdom, 2020.
Automating Morals – On the Morality of Automation Technology, Ironies of Automation and Responsible Research and Innovation, in 21st IFAC World Congress , Berlin, Germany , 2020.
(Ingenieurs-)Ethische Dimensionen der KI – Überlegungen zu Implikationen & Herausforderungen KI-basierter Humangenomik, 2020.
DigS-Gov - Die öffentliche Verwaltung als Förderer digitaler Souveränität, in Mensch und Computer , 2020.
„Ethical Innovation Hub“ – Vision und Konzept eines transdisziplinären Konvergenzpunkts für Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft für KI-Innovationsprozesse, in KI-Konferenz Schleswig-Holstein , Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany: Staatskanzlei Schleswig-Holstein, 2019.
Technological Opacity of Machine Learning in Healthcare, in 2nd Weizenbaum Conference: Challenges of Digital Inequality - Digital Education, Digital Work, Digital Life , Berlin, Germany , 2019.
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.34669/wi.cp/2.7 |
Bibtex: | ![]() @inproceedings{Herzog2019b, address = {Berlin, Germany}, author = {Herzog, Christian}, booktitle = {2nd Weizenbaum Conference: Challenges of Digital Inequality - Digital Education, Digital Work, Digital Life}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.34669/wi.cp/2.7}, title = {Technological Opacity of Machine Learning in Healthcare}, year = {2019} } |
Ethical and Epistemological Challenges of AI in Medical Systems, 2019.
Ethical Design Considerations for MedTec: The Big Picture and Accompanying Concerns, 2019.
Ethics as an Essential Teaching Element for Innovative Medical Technology Engineering Education, 2019.
Responsible Research and Innovation in der KI-Basierten Medizintechnik, 2019.