Head of the Ethical Innovation Hub

Dr.-Ing. Christian Herzog

Photo of 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.

[en] Christian Herzog,
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: 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}
}
Sabrina Breyer, and Christian Herzog,
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.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@incollection{BreyerHerzog2022,
	title = {Integrating Ethical Considerations Into Innovation Design},
	copyright = {All rights reserved},
	booktitle = {Innovation Design for the Future of Health – Entrepreneurial Strategies and Development Concepts towards Patient Empowerement and Health Democratisation},
	publisher = {Springer},
	author = {Breyer, Sabrina and Herzog, Christian},
	year = {2022}
}
Christian Herzog, and Daniela Zetti,
Digitally Aided Sovereignty – A Suitable Guide for the e-Government Transformation?, in Weizenbaum Conference 2022 - Practicing Sovereignty , Berlin, Germany , 2022.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@inproceedings{HerzogZetti2022,
	address = {Berlin, Germany},
	title = {Digitally Aided Sovereignty – A Suitable Guide for the e-Government Transformation?},
	copyright = {All rights reserved},
	booktitle = {Weizenbaum Conference 2022 - Practicing Sovereignty},
	author = {Herzog, Christian and Zetti, Daniela},
	year = {2022}
}
Christian Herzog, Sabrina Breyer, Noah-Art Leinweber, Robin Preiß, Arne Sonar, and Gunter Bombaerts,
Everything you Want to Know and Never Dared to ask – A Practical Approach to Employing Challenge-Based Learning in Engineering Ethics, Barcelona, Spain , 2022.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@inproceedings{HerzogBreyerLeinweberPreissSonarBombaerts2022,
	address = {Barcelona, Spain},
	title = {Everything you Want to Know and Never Dared to ask – A Practical Approach to Employing Challenge-Based Learning in Engineering Ethics},
	copyright = {All rights reserved},
	author = {Herzog, Christian and Breyer, Sabrina and Leinweber, Noah-Art and Preiß, Robin and Sonar, Arne and Bombaerts, Gunter},
	year = {2022}
}
Christian Herzog, Felix Vollmer, Jonas Gruner, and Philipp Rostalski,
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.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@inproceedings{Herzog2022,
	address = {Hamburg, Germany},
	title = {Teaching Estimation and Control via Probabilistic Graphical Models – An Intuitive and Problem-Based Approach},
	copyright = {All rights reserved},
	booktitle = {IFAC Symposium on Advances in Control Education 2022},
	publisher = {IFAC},
	author = {Herzog, Christian and Vollmer, Felix and Gruner, Jonas and Rostalski, Philipp},
	year = {2022}
}
Christian Herzog, and Hermann Diebel-Fischer,
Teaching Ethics Through the Back Door? – Employing Ideas From Assemblage Theory to Foster a Responsible Innovation Mindset, Barcelona, Spain , 2022.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@inproceedings{HerzogDiebelFischer2022,
	address = {Barcelona, Spain},
	title = {Teaching Ethics Through the Back Door? – Employing Ideas From Assemblage Theory to Foster a Responsible Innovation Mindset},
	copyright = {All rights reserved},
	author = {Herzog, Christian and Diebel-Fischer, Hermann},
	year = {2022}
}
Eike Petersen, Yannik Potdevin, Esfandiar Mohammadi, Stephan Zidowitz, Sabrina Breyer, Dirk Nowotka, Sandra Henn, Ludwig Pechmann, Martin Leucker, Philipp Rostalski, and Christian Herzog,
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: 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}
}
Christian Herzog,
On formal ethics versus inclusive moral deliberation, AI and Ethics , 2021.
DOI:10.1007/s43681-021-00045-4
File: s43681-021-00045-4
Bibtex: 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}
}
[en] Christian Herzog,
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: 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}
}
Christian Herzog,
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: 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}
}
Diana Martin, Christian Herzog, Kyriaki Papageorgiou, and Gunter Bombaerts,
Three European experiences of co-creating ethical solutions to real-world problems through Challenge-Based Learning, in Emerald Handbook on Challenge-Based Learning , 2021.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@incollection{Martin2021,
	title = {Three European experiences of co-creating ethical solutions to real-world problems through Challenge-Based Learning},
	booktitle = {Emerald Handbook on Challenge-Based Learning},
	author = {Martin, Diana and Herzog, Christian and Papageorgiou, Kyriaki and Bombaerts, Gunter},
	year = {2021}
}
Christian Herzog, Sabrina Breyer, Arne Sonar, and Gunter Bombaerts,
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.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@inproceedings{Herzog2021d,
	address = {Karlsruhe},
	title = {Challenge-based Learning for Robotics Students by Engaging Start-Ups in Technology Ethics},
	booktitle = {Reflecting Technology in Academic Teaching. Workshop on Teaching Environmental,  Societal,  and Ethical Dimensions of Technological Change},
	author = {Herzog, Christian and Breyer, Sabrina and Sonar, Arne and Bombaerts, Gunter},
	year = {2021}
}
Christian Herzog,
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.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@inproceedings{Herzog2021c,
	address = {Hamburg, Germany},
	title = {Practical and Moral Challenges for the Project of Formal Ethics},
	booktitle = {CEPE/IACAP Joint Conference 2021: The Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence},
	author = {Herzog, Christian},
	year = {2021}
}
[German] Sabrina Breyer, and Christian Herzog,
Akzeptanzfragen bei KI-basierter Medizintechnik, 2021.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@misc{Breyer2021,
	title = {Akzeptanzfragen bei KI-basierter Medizintechnik},
	language = {German},
	author = {Breyer, Sabrina and Herzog, Christian},
	month = {June},
	year = {2021},
	booktitle = {KI-Sommercampus der Begleitforschung des KI-Innovationswettbewerb BMWi}
}
Christian Herzog,
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.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@phdthesis{Herzog2020b,
author = {Herzog, Christian},
address = {Master's Thesis at the University of Leeds, Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, United Kingdom},
school = {University of Leeds},
title = {Should Ethics be Formalized? - And if so, What for?},
type = {Master's Thesis},
year = {2020}
}
Christian Herzog,
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.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@phdthesis{Herzog2020e,
	title = {Should We Build Artificial Moral Agents?},
	school = {University of Leeds},
        address = {Projekt Work Thesis at the University of Leeds, Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, United Kingdom},
	author = {Herzog, Christian},
	year = {2020},
	type = {Project Work Thesis}
}
Christian Herzog,
Automating Morals – On the Morality of Automation Technology, Ironies of Automation and Responsible Research and Innovation, in 21st IFAC World Congress , Berlin, Germany , 2020.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@inproceedings{Herzog2020a,
address = {Berlin, Germany},
author = {Herzog, Christian},
booktitle = {21st IFAC World Congress},
title = {Automating Morals – On the Morality of Automation Technology, Ironies of Automation and Responsible Research and Innovation},
year = {2020}
}

Arne Sonar, and Christian Herzog,
(Ingenieurs-)Ethische Dimensionen der KI – Überlegungen zu Implikationen & Herausforderungen KI-basierter Humangenomik, 2020.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@misc{Sonar2020,
author = {Sonar, Arne and Herzog, Christian},
booktitle = {Online-Workshop „Humangenomik trifft Künstliche Intelligenz – Ethische und gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen“},
title = {(Ingenieurs-)Ethische Dimensionen der KI – Überlegungen zu Implikationen & Herausforderungen KI-basierter Humangenomik},
year = {2020}
}
André Gode, Jan Hedtfeld, Moreen Heine, Christian Herzog, Stefan Ivens, Frank Radzio, Daniel Wessel, and Daniela Zetti,
DigS-Gov - Die öffentliche Verwaltung als Förderer digitaler Souveränität, in Mensch und Computer , 2020.
File:
Bibtex: BibTeX
@misc{Gode2020,
author = {Gode, André and Hedtfeld, Jan and Heine, Moreen and Herzog, Christian and Ivens, Stefan and Radzio, Frank and Wessel, Daniel and Zetti, Daniela},
booktitle = {Mensch und Computer},
title = {DigS-Gov - Die öffentliche Verwaltung als Förderer digitaler Souveränität},
url = {https://muc2020.mensch-und-computer.de},
year = {2020}
}
Christian Herzog,
„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.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@inproceedings{Herzog2019c,
address = {Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany},
author = {Herzog, Christian},
booktitle = {KI-Konferenz Schleswig-Holstein},
publisher = {Staatskanzlei Schleswig-Holstein},
title = {„Ethical Innovation Hub“ – Vision und Konzept eines transdisziplinären Konvergenzpunkts für Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft für KI-Innovationsprozesse},
year = {2019}
}
Christian Herzog,
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: 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}
}
Christian Herzog,
Ethical and Epistemological Challenges of AI in Medical Systems, 2019.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@misc{Herzog2019e,
address = {Berlin, Germany},
author = {Herzog, Christian},
booktitle = {41st International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, Mini Symposium on "Ethical Design Considerations for MedTec"},
title = {Ethical and Epistemological Challenges of AI in Medical Systems},
year = {2019}
}
Elmer Jeto Gomes Ataide, Joachim Maartens, Sönke Bartling, Dietmar W. Hutmacher, Christian Herzog, and Michael Friebe,
Ethical Design Considerations for MedTec: The Big Picture and Accompanying Concerns, 2019.
Christian Herzog, and Michael Friebe,
Ethics as an Essential Teaching Element for Innovative Medical Technology Engineering Education, 2019.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@misc{Herzog2019a,
address = {Berlin, Germany},
author = {Herzog, Christian and Friebe, Michael},
booktitle = {41st International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, Mini Symposium on "Ethical Design Considerations for MedTec"},
title = {Ethics as an Essential Teaching Element for Innovative Medical Technology Engineering Education},
year = {2019}
}
Christian Herzog,
Responsible Research and Innovation in der KI-Basierten Medizintechnik, 2019.
Bibtex: BibTeX
@misc{Herzog2019g,
address = {Lübeck},
author = {Herzog, Christian},
booktitle = {Vortrag vor der Medizinischen Gesellschaft zu Lübeck},
title = {Responsible Research and Innovation in der KI-Basierten Medizintechnik},
year = {2019}
}