RHET AI Center Enters Second Funding Phase

A second funding phase was approved in July for the RHET AI Center, which was launched in 2021. The Volkswagen Stiftung is providing a further EUR 2.2 million to support the research consortium formed by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the University of Tübingen, and the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien. Starting in October, the project partners will be able to expand their research, further establish the Center at their home institutions, and strengthen its international network.

Advisory Services for Researchers

At KIT, the funding will be used, among other things, to establish advisory services for science communication involving artificial intelligence. Workshops and consultation hours are planned. The focus is on the changes that generative and multimodal AI systems bring about in the communication of scientific content, and the responsible use of such systems.

“AI is changing not only how scientific content is created and communicated, but also how researchers and the public engage with scientific knowledge. This raises new questions concerning trust and orientation. With our advisory services, we aim to support researchers in using AI in a reflective, transparent, and audience-oriented manner,” explains Professor Annette Leßmöllmann from KIT’s Institute for Technology Futures.

Communication with and about AI

From rhetorical, linguistic, and media studies perspectives, the RHET AI Center investigates how people interact with AI systems and how communication, knowledge, and participation in society are changing. During the second funding phase, this question will take center stage under the guiding theme “New Interactions with AI”.

During the first funding phase, the research unit headed by Leßmöllmann and Dr. Monika Hanauska established, among other things, networks for linguistic research on and with AI. It also played a major role in a Journalist-in-Residence program that involved journalists as practitioners.

jha, July 28, 2026