The feedback on We Need to Talk, AI has exceeded our expectations. Since its release in 2019, more than 50,000 people have read and shared the comic. By May 2021, four more language versions (German, Spanish, Turkish and Slovenian) and an open online course based on the comic are additionally available (see below, e.g., an interview with Slowenian newspaper Delo). We were invited as speakers or as exhibitors at numerous conferences and events and workshops and were able to experience the exchange with many different people vis-a-vis. At this point, we would like to thank you again for supporting We Need to Talk, AI and helping us to achieve our goal – to contribute to the debates. This is amazing.
“This comic explains what artificial intelligence is. Sometimes AI is a saviour against all problems, sometimes it is responsible for the decline of mankind. The comic “We Need to Talk, AI” makes the technology understandable – without hype or alarmism. …”
Full review of Mirjam Hauck on Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German)
“Machine learning in cat pictures: Can algorithms be described without words and artificial intelligence explained on 60 pages? This is exactly what researchers and an artist are trying to do in two practical projects. …”
Full review of Anna Krings on wissenschaftskommunikation.de
“This comic removes the myths surrounding machine learning. Many talk about it, even more have no idea what it is all about: artificial intelligence has become a buzzword. But people should understand as much as possible about a technology that will determine their insurance, finances, cancer diagnoses and educational opportunities in the future. Julia Schneider and Lena Ziyal therefore do educational work – in pictures. …”
Full review of Chris Köver on netzpolitik.org (in German)
“This comic explains artificial intelligence in a way that everyone understands it. Everybody’s talking about artificial intelligence. But what does that actually mean? If you also ask yourself this question, this new comic: We Need To Talk, AI. With intelligent explanations, loving illustrations and cats, a data expert and an artist explain AI. …”
Full review of Wolfgang Kerler on 1E9 (unofficial successor of WIRED.DE) (in German)
“The new comic “We Need to Talk, AI” charmingly teaches how artificial intelligence works and makes the complex field of topics accessible to everyone. Our book tip of the month. … “
Full review on Digital Kindergarten (Platform for Digital Business) (in German)
“Interview to comic essay “We Need to Talk, AI”: The subject of artificial intelligence is currently on everyone’s lips. It not only employs computer scientists and software developers, but also philosophers, sociologists, lawyers and civil society organisations. …”
Full blog post on ai-laws.org (Platform for debates and research trends in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence) (in German)
“We Need to Talk, AI” – Web comic explains AI. Data capitalism, feminism or data-related discrimination: the comic “We need to talk, AI” aims to shed light on these and other topics – it is the first comic essay on artificial intelligence. Black and white panels explain concepts such as trial & error, machine learning or the role of data for artificial intelligence with vivid graphics. …”
News on t3n.de (in German)
“A comic about artificial intelligence: “We Need to Talk, AI”. There are many textbooks and novels dealing with the topic of artificial intelligence (AI). The data scientist Julia Schneider and the artist Lena Kadriye Ziyal have now dealt with the subject in a comic essay, calmly and convincingly. “We need to talk, AI” is not an explanatory comic, but helps to understand the underlying context. …”
Full interview with Claudia Bleibaum on MDR Kultur (in German)
“We Need to Talk, AI” – A Comic-Essay about Artificial Intelligence: Honestly: When people talk about artificial intelligence, do you know exactly what it is? …”
Full interview with Dennis Kastrup on the radio station radioeins rbb (in German)
“We Need to Talk, AI: A radio programme on artificial intelligence and queer*feminist approaches”.
Full interview with queer-feminist radio station Sillestha on Mixcloud (in German)
“Reducing concerns about AI with art: Artificial intelligence is a motif that has been present in the art world since the development of machines and computers. But unlike animes like “Ghost in the Shell,” which work their way through the content of futuristic reality, Julia Schneider and Lena Kadriye Ziyal’s comic “We need to talk, AI” is designed above all to overcome fears of contact with the new technology. …”
Full interview with Max Spallek at the Radioday “Artificial Intelligence” of the radio station radioeins rbb (in German)
“Need to talk about AI: After all, technology is never neutral. Technology is always embedded in the social context and therefore different perspectives on it are very important. Comics are a good way to explain complex things. …”
Full interview with Vera Linß and Marcus Richter for the digital magazine Breitband on the radio station Deutschlandfunk Kultur at Goethe-Institute’s Kultursymposiums Weimar 2019 (in German)
“We Need to Talk, AI”: In times of information overload, which stimulates all kinds of senses thanks to smart connections, it is a challenge to form an opinion. Democratic socialization of the future needs a lively debate on digitalization, which allows spaces beyond or between narratives of horror and horror or celebrating technological acceleration …”.
Full review from Anna Stiede for the digital monthly newspaper ak – analyse & criticism (ak) (in German)
“Artistic Intelligence: Digital society and artificial intelligence: At re:publica the creativity of machines is negotiated. …”
Full article at Berlin’s daily newspaper Tagesspiegel
“Julia Schneider and Lena Kadriye Ziyal certainly prove HI, human intelligence, in capturing the essence of a new life with AI! Personally, I fear: The power of algorithms to categorize people on the basis of their data traaces will likely increase stereotyping, segregation, etc. More diversity monitoring of those programming them is needed.”
Prof. Dr. Miriam Beblo, Sachverständigenkommission (SVK) on the Third Equality Report of the Federal Government on the Challenges of the Digital Economy, Professor of Economics, University Hamburg
“Whoa! A – for me – completely new – and great – approach to thinking about and communicating about AI. Hats off (if I had one on)”
Robert Wilde, Founder of Gewerkschaft 4.0, Director and Photographer
„Thank you for this wonderful comic. I want to read more of this please! All the best for the launch at re:publica.“
Julia Kloiber, Founder of Superrr Lab (feminist think tank and consultancy), partner at Ashoka Germany, Co-Founder of Code for Germany and the Prototype Fund.
“Big compliment – you really have created something great! And that’s access to a topic that many people are afraid of because they think “it’s too complicated for me, I don’t understand AI anyway etc etc.”. I think the comic is extremely well done. To meet such an approach with humour, expertise and an easy language will appeal to many, break down barriers and unfold ideas – for sure!”
Stefan Greiner, Co-Founder Cyborgs e.V.
“The comic essay “We need to talk, AI” opens the garden fence to the playground, which is all too often reserved for male nerds in technological debates, and invites all of us with our abilities, worries, desires and dreams to contribute to fundamental social questions. The comic is the most inclusive offer in AI debates, as it expresses super-complex social, cultural, economic and political debates in a conciseness and pointliness that I have never seen before. As a communications trainer, I am grateful for this work, which inspires me to question my own thoughts and actions. I wish and hope that the schoolbooks and textbooks of the future will be designed with such an approach and format.”
Anna Stiede, Political Educator and Communication Trainer
“Congratulations on your work. I liked the innovative way to convey more information and knowledge on AI and data science. I am sure that this piece of work will indorm and inspire discussion and I would like to continue working with you on the utopia and the desirable alternatives.”
Prof. Dr. Ingo Rollwagen, Innovation and Foresight Expert and Anticipation Designer, AMD Akademie Mode & Design
„The comic is a great thing :-). Especially the analogy to the playground I find very successful, also the seesaw for chances and risks. The demystification at the beginning I find basically helpful for a classification of the state of affairs. I particularly like the chapter on environmental pollution, feminism, capitalism and promoting mathematics! I wish you much success with it!“
Nina Galla, Expert for the Enquete Commission “Artificial Intelligence”, German Bundestag
“Explaining AI in a comic is a cool idea because sometimes it’s really true: a picture says more than a thousand words. I also very much like the selection of characters, which goes beyond the white male nerd stereotype. But: I think it’s a problem that you get approval for sentences like “I’ve always been bad at math”. Because that’s boring, math is not only for experts.”
Arndt Leininger, Ph.D., Co-Founder of CorrelAid, Political Scientist, Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science, Free University Berlin
“This comic essay has taken a topic that feels quite far out of reach for many people and brought it to life. Both in it’s comic art style, as well as the succinct nature of the texts, it reaches a general audience who traditionally gets left out of these conversations. I also really appreciate the diversity present in the comic characters and was able to easily identify with the examples.”
Safa Ghnaim, Project Lead at Tactical Tech
„I read the comic with enthusiasm – both in terms of content it is super interesting and written in such a way that it makes complex questions comprehensible, but also in terms of drawing it is super successful. The pictures looked like little animations, at least I saw the whole comic almost like a film in front of me – but maybe that’s the way it is with good comics anyway.“
Guido Fassbender, Scientific Curator, Visual Arts Collection, Berlinische Galerie, Museum for Modern Art, Berlin
„Informative, philosophical and fun. Highly recommended!“
Annika Schrader, High school teacher in Berlin
“Perhaps the biggest threat posed by AI to the future of humanity is how overwhelmed we all feel by it. The complexities are way beyond human ability, and it’s difficult to object its self-applauding claim of inevitability, and its mission to make human life safer, more efficient and convenient beyond imagination. However, skulking behind this machine rationale of optimization are very real and terrifying external costs to freedom, justice, sanity and perhaps even our ideals of humanity itself. In order to make the right choices on this path, we first need to understand what’s at stake. This work hands a red pill to anyone who are ready to wake up but don’t know where to start. It portrays the most immediate effects of the dissemination of AI, and gives due attention to both advantages and perils involved.”
Louis Holbrook, Developer, Ethereum Swarm Network
We Need to Talk, AI 