behavioral – Page 3

16/09/202512/09/2025

Chatbot Me We

In order to dig deeper into the functioning of AI, I deemed it expedient to construct, for example, a simple chatbot on a limited knowledge base from my own writings on AI (link to reader in previous blog entry here).
A toolbox from Google offers powerful assistance in such an endeavour. The outcome uses only my input text and no other sources. It is dynamic in the sense that it interprets questions and searches within the text file provided only. The answers are edited with a LLM (large language model) and provide flawless English texts. You can try it here using catchat as magic formula and Google account so far.
With a bit of programming knowledge (htlm, python, Java) and related learning sites it is feasible to come up with a “static” chatbot hosted at a free of charge provider as well. For learning purposes this step by step building and coding of a chatbot is helpful. The outcome is rather limited or requires a lot of time to increase the scope of Q & A interactions and to move from a static (predefined Q & As) to dynamic ones.
Full control of answers, excluding any hallucinations and high-speed replies, come at a cost. Take a look here. It is a very basic version so far, just to get the idea of it. full web address:
https://schoemannchatbot.eu.pythonanywhere.com/

14/09/202509/09/2025

AI Podcasting Me

Content producers have lots of tools at their disposal to get their content across to very different audiences. For some time the traditional media of newspapers, radio and TV were the prime outlets for content distribution. Social media have changed this to many more senders of content than before.
In the 21st century, AI allows to automate media productions. In a trial run I just used Google’s NetbookLM to generate 3 podcasts based on my own writings on AI over more than a year by now. The result is available and using artificial voices it is possible to broadcast yourself without revealing your own personal voice. I am not done with the evaluation of the outcome(s) yet, but the first impression is an interesting other form to spread content.
More tests are necessary to check for hallucinations as well.
Here are the links to my virtual podcasts:
AI, intimacy and insecurity

AI, Society and the Human Spirit

AI and the Human Mosaic: Navigating Our Interconnected Future

13/09/202509/09/2025

Video Doku by AI

Based on my own blog on this webpage “schoemann.org” Google NotebookLM creates a video of about 7 minutes. Using Microsoft Clipchamp automatic subtitles with a slightly different storyline are produced based on the video data. In the end, the blog entries are re-modelled into something like a lecture on “AI in a wider social context” (see and play below). No voice layover so far, read by yourselves. A podcast format is another option.
It feels like walking across landscapes in my own mind. Content creators of today or the past never imagined the impact they might have through the powerful tools of AI. The only caveat, jokes I incorporated into the texts cannot really be handled by AI tools unless they are explicitly designated as such. These AI tools take me much more seriously as I do myself. This is serious.

12/09/202509/09/2025

Mind Map Me

AI tools are great to assist learners in the task to get more structure into larger documents or books. It is up to the teachers or lecturers to use the tools themselves to pre-structure content they want other persons to learn. Mind maps are useful to summarise larger content and offer a tree-like structure to a text moving from the general to more specific content and then into details by at the same time not loosing sight of the overall structure of the content. Basics can be provided by Google’s NotebookLM and you may rework this basic structure yourself linking the mind map to the detailed content. Learning may start with a comprehensive mind map at the beginning to move on to details. Alternative versions of a mind map are equally feasible to come up with new combinations of subjects. This can be done using the tags of the blog entries in addition to the categories and fast search keywords.
It is a fascinating way to mind map yourself based on longer texts written by yourself. This clarifies a bit what potential readers or learners are likely to retain from reading your document(s) or blog entries.
Its worth trying, as others will most likely use these tools from now onwards anyway, whether we like it or not.
Image: Google NotebookLM Mind Map of my AI blog entries 2025-9-9.

11/09/202510/09/2025

Own AI related entries

The digital drafting of blog posts facilitates the publishing of volumes based on a selection of entries. Pdf-files, or EPUB formats are quite common. The choice of a flipbook is more suitable for larger screens of tablets or notebooks. It also serves as a rapid stock taking of entries and missing topics to cover a broader field. In some fields AI is not yet popular, for example in agentic home applications, whereas in other fields text, translation or image production AI has grown into a threat to professional fields. Even computer languages are a major field of application with substantial negative employment effects.
Hence, enjoy the latest comments on AI towards the end of my latest Flipbook.
Just click here.

ChatGPT provides a summary of my AI-reader as follows:

From the uploaded text AI from a Social Science Perspective (Dr. Klaus Schoemann), social science concerns with AI focus on potentials and limitations of how AI interacts with society:

Labour and employment: AI impacts jobs, but adjustment processes are slow. For example, there’s a shortage of engineers and care workers, while robots are still limited to simple assistant tasks. This raises concerns about who benefits and who is left behind.
Bias and fairness: The book highlights issues of biased results in research and decision-making. When AI systems rely on incomplete or selective samples, results can be misleading — a challenge also familiar to social scientists.
Democracy and accountability: Journalists and scientists are framed as part of a “checks and balances” system. AI adds complexity here, as the fast spread of information without accountability can weaken democratic processes.
Human–machine relations: Topics like intimacy, housing, and memory are re-thought in the context of AI and digitalization, raising questions about privacy, social norms, and cultural heritage.
War and security: AI-driven technologies like drones change the nature of warfare, raising ethical and political questions.

On his blog, Schoemann also stresses the energy and resource costs of large AI models and how reinforcement learning offers a more efficient alternative. He warns that AI should be understood not just technically, but as part of an “all-electric society” where social sciences help assess risks, inequalities, and long-term consequences.

👉 In short: AI raises social science concerns about equity, bias, democracy, labour, cultural shifts, and global risks.

10/09/202508/09/2025

Marc Aurel AI

In the 21st century it is possible to chat with Marcus Aurelius. Part of the exhibition at the Simeonstift is a chatbot you may freely consult and questions with or about Marc Aurel. Based on your questions the animated screen image of Marc Aurel will reply based on his own writings like the Meditations and (probably) other secondary literature on Marc Aurel. Questions about feminism or slavery are answered based on the original texts. Some of these answers appeared rather modern like the basic equality of all including women or slaves. The Meditations are an idealistic vision of mankind in the stoic tradition. In practice such ideals have proven very ambitious for the many and growing temptations in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people including their political, religious, business and military leaders. The AI is confronted with the issue to give answers to ethical questions which refer to the time of the author, but not all can apply to today’s ethical standards and basic human rights. Reading the original source, therefore, remains the preferred choice.

09/09/202508/09/2025

Marc Aurel Philosopher

2025-9 marks an additional landmark in the achievements of the late Marc Aurel. In the Roman built city of Trier, 3 museums offer exhibitions on the life, ideas and imperial governance style of Marc Aurel. Libraries and bookshops around the city portray a wealth of books and studies by and about Marc Aurel as well in many languages (image below 2025-9). The stoic author and practitioner has served as an example of a leadership style which became for many subsequent leaders a hard-to-achieve precedent. The writing style of Marc Aurel in short paragraphs and aphorisms proved highly accessible, although his readership swell only after a Latin translation of his Greek original appeared in the 16th century. The title “Meditations” in English, “Pensées pou moi-même” in French or “Selbstbetrachtungen” in German demonstrate the difficulty to get to grips with the author’s intention and objectives in writing down these reflections on life, ethics, humanity and good governance. Through the use of Greek rather than Latin he puts himself in the line of Greek philosophers rather than the succession of Roman emperors. As the numbers of bad leaders still outnumber the good governance style advocated by Marc Aurel, these exhibitions in the Simeonstift, the Landesmuseum and the Stadtbibliothek are a perfect opportunity to demonstrate that good governance is something that can be studied and learned even in the distant Roman history.

07/09/202508/09/2025

Former Crypto currency

The rationale behind a Crypto currency is quite an ancient idea. In the absence of a central bank or in addition to it, people may choose to establish their own currency or currencies. The central idea is to secure assets (currently and in the future) as well as to enable an exchange between a community of people. The Museum of the National Bank of Belgium (image below) has a “Yap stone” on display which originates from the Pacific Yap Islands. Even very heavy and big stones served as wealth storage. The idealistic value of a particular stone conveyed additional value. In the true value of the word these people were banking on stone money in a way not to distant from what Crypto currency embodies today.

06/09/202503/09/2025

AI in Central Banks

Yes of course, Central Banks will use AI, and some do so already (Kazinnik and Brynjolfsson, 2025). Beyond the standard application of AI by its employees, there are many potentials to use AI to analyse and publish data at a faster rate or in order to detect financial crimes. Similarly, data collection based on webpage harvesting might yield new indicators of inflation, expenditure for environmental risks (heat waves, flooding etc.) earlier and in addition to the normal set of indicators. Hence, Central banks might be better and faster in forecasting inflationary tendencies using more AI tools in their daily routines. Of course, it is difficult to predict a disruptive tariffs policy of a major economic player in the world economy, but the calculation of more, even hallucinatory scenarios become more feasible. It is feasible to weigh overall risks of different scenarios to the economy.
(Image: Celtic coins, Museum of the Belgian National Bank)

05/09/202503/09/2025

AI earnings effects

In the first few years of wider adoption of AI in an economy, there is the expectation that this might lead to substantial productivity gains for enterprises which use it as well as for employees who are early adopters of the relatively new technology. The study by the Stanford Digital Economy Lab by Chen, Chandar and Brynjolfsson (2025) showed that so far there are no significant earnings effects for employees. Based on millions of recent payroll data from US companies productivity gains have not trickled through to the paycheck in terms of monthly salaries. Participation of staff in a company’s overall turnover or profit might change this as time evolves. For civil servants the adoption of AI might mean increases in cases dealt with as some tasks can be executes faster than before with the use of AI.
The evidence points to employment effects of AI rather than earnings effects so far. A hypothesis is yet unresolved: senior employees using AI might employ fewer junior workers at entry positions, if these “hallucinating” young professionals can be replaced by hallucinating AI. In science the hallucination has sometimes lead to disruptive new approaches and findings. It is a tough choice to pick the young entrants with high productivity potential and eventually high remuneration for this in terms of labor earnings.

04/09/202503/09/2025

AI employment effects

The first robust empirical evidence about employment effects of AI in the USA has been published by the Stanford Digital Economy Lab by Chen, Chandar and Brynjolfsson (2025). A previous paper by Wang and Wang (2025) highlighted the comparative advantage of persons who use AI in their work compared to others and the authors coined the term “learning by using technology”. The prediction of the model was that there might be job losses of more than 20% in the long run and half of this already in the first 5 years of the introduction of the technology. The Stanford economists have estimated with real world data these effects in the USA and find quite surprisingly that the negative employment effects of AI have the strongest impact on young labor market entrants with few years of labor market experience. Middle-aged and more senior employees seem to benefit from “tacit knowledge” about the work, which is more difficult to replace with AI, at least for the time being of the early days of AI. This evidence is based on recent payroll data from the largest payroll processing firm “ADP” in the USA which has firms overrepresented from the manufacturing and services industries as reported in another paper (Firm size maybe another source of bias). However, the effect that youth 22-25 years of age suffered the most calls into question the common belief that older workers are more likely to suffer the consequences as during in the rise of the digital economy around the year 2000. (AI Image created with Canva)

03/09/202503/09/2025

Vacation or Workation

Vacation or Workation, that is the question. Remote work and outsourcing of work have created the opportunity for more people to work from distant places. Logging into the firm’s or the administration’s secured intranet enabled to work from where you prefer to work rather than on the premises of the firm. After the technological shift to enable secure remote work, the acceptability of remote work is a societal issue. Whereas bosses worked or had to work while on travel for many decades, the same has become feasible due to reduced costs for many other employees as well. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced another shift in the need to accept and advance remote work as well. Taken together the option of a “workation” instead of a vacation became equally more feasible. The borderline between remote work, “workation” and vacation has become more and more blurred. It remains to be seen, whether these options enhance an outsourcing trend by firms or whether more “back-sourcing” or “in-sourcing” will be the consequence.
Employers with their associations and employees with their trade union representatives have a need to include such topics in their bargaining agenda in addition to pay, health and safety, as well as working time adaptations.
(Image created with Canva 2025-9)

02/09/202503/09/2025

Vacation money

The budget for a vacation, depending on your destination, is subject to exchange rate adjustments. If there are several months between planning and traveling the exchange rate like between the US $ and the Euro € has fluctuated recently by 10% in favor of the €uro. Nice for those receiving salaries in € and who spend their vacation in a region using the US $ as main payment currency. International tourists frequently calculate in $ and therefore might find Europe a bit more expensive than before the return of Donald Trump in the USA.
However, for all those who live in the Member States of the Euro-area and take their vacation there as well, they no longer think in exchange rate risks to their vacation budget. Additionally, there are almost no risks to be subject to fake money transactions like in unfamiliar currencies.
In the Euro area we can use for example backlight to make sure a 50€ bank note is a real one. Happy vacation!

01/09/202503/09/2025

Vacation Waves

One of the most popular choices for a vacation is in connection with waves. There seems to be something mystical or romantic related to waves, which touches many people irrespective of their background and across continents. This goes much beyond what we know about waves from physics or maths and this is already a fascinating scientific story in itself. Sailing adepts will be able to tell marvellous tales about waves, too. Coming back from a vacation near the sea or a lake, you surely may add another story to the already rich inventory of waves in art or literature. The imagery about waves started early as well, ever since sailors started to conquer the world.

31/08/202503/09/2025

Vacation time

According to statistics from INSEE about 20% of the French population reported in 2024 that they could not not go on vacation due to financial reasons. Another additional 20% did not go on vacation for other reasons based on another survey mentioning other reasons, like psychological or logistical issues as being of overriding importance.
Openness to new experiences is a well researched concept of psychology and vacations can be a challenging time for established convictions. Meeting people from other cultures particularly allows to reflect on one’s own values and behavior. Some people may just want to avoid being challenged or even potentially destabilized. Destination time and place involve choices and decision making often within families or with friends.
The topic of vacation is much like an evolutionary process. Towards the end or some time after the vacation time, there is” evaluation time” and the preparation of the next experience.

30/08/202528/08/2025

500 years Motherhood

The history of art is full of depictions of motherhood. The catholic church has largely contributed to this phenomenon. Sandro Boticelli created in 1478 his painting of Maria and the child surrounded by singing angels. As Maria is said to know about the tragic fate of her child, her facial expression is rather sad or apprehensive than full of joy. The public acclaim has lasted already for more than 500 years. The women and people who sympathize with this depiction seem to share some of the worries about the future of both mother and child. Apparently, this has not changed over the course of the centuries. In the 21st century such concerns still have a co-determination effect on women to lead to lower fertility rates in most parts of the world. Fertility depictions in art history might serve as early indicator of behavioral changes. Some take centuries to play out. Technological, medical devices or social policies can amplify such seminal trends. (Image: Sandro Boticelli and disciples , 1478, Gemäldegalerie Berlin)

29/08/202528/08/2025

Raffael Madonna

„Mary and the child“ has been the success painting of Raffael around the years of 1500. 3 variants on this topic are presented at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Each pose varies only slightly, but each tells a very different story. The Madonna changes the regard from beyond the child, on the child, then to another child. An interesting sequence as such, which puts the relationship with the child also in perspective. The child develops over the sequence from the fast learner into the person with „power grip“ to the one that is spreading benevolence. The different stages of the life course are somehow taking place within a short period of the child. (Image: Raffael, Mary with Child, Gemäldegalerie Berlin)

28/08/202527/08/2025

Gentileschi Gentileschi

There are 2 Gentileschis that entered the history of art. Orazio the father and his daughter Artemisia. Orazio painted many scenarios based on the bible. The incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters is difficult one to portray and to do justice to the moral concerns involved. Artemisia, similarly, did not shun away from difficult stories of the bible and added a personal twist to these stories in putting her face into the biblical depiction. The cruelty of the stories become more explicit this way and maybe also her deviant position to the biblical narrative. (Image: Orazio Gentileschi‘ (1622/23) „Lot with his daughters“ Gemäldegalerie Berlin)

27/08/202526/08/2025

Caravaggio Gentileschi

The „Gemäldegalerie“ in Berlin features in the permanent exhibition the famous Caravaggio painting of „Cupid as Victor“ (1601) in the same room with Orazio Gentileschi‘ (1622/23) „Lot with his daughters“. The paintings show the same technique of painting with the stunning effects of light and shade. Gentileschi‘s own daughter became equally successful as painter applying the same technique and maybe even more recognized as her father. Berlin and Paris jointly allow to trace interesting new perspectives on the history of art from a gender perspective. The male domination in art of the 16th and 17th century was pervasive, but Artemisia Gentileschi a formidable exception. (Image: Caravaggio „Cupid as Victor“, 1601, Gemäldegalerie Berlin)

26/08/202525/08/2025

Age of maturity

The bronze statue by Camille Claudel „L‘âge mûr“ is her most famous works. It is part of the exhibition Claudel & Hoetger in the “Alte Nationalgalerie“ in Berlin. Usually the statue is part of the permanent exhibition in the „Musée d‘Orsay“. With the depiction of different stages of the life course and somehow revealing the emotional trajectories of the persons the scene of human joy and tragedy becomes tangible beyond her personal fate. The scenario and arrangement in the Alte Nationalgalerie allows to focus on this particular work with an emphasis on the trajectory and the evolutionary path. A unique arrangement does better justice to the particular message of the artist than being surrounded by too many other works of art. (Image: extract of Camille Claudel‘s „L‘âge mûr“ in showroom Alte Nationalgalerie, 2025-8)

25/08/202524/08/2025

Claudel & Hoetger

It is well known that artists joined other artists and groups to get inspired. The entangled relationship between Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin has become a special example of the tricky relationship between learning and co-creation or inspiration. The role of galerists in building a reputation for artists is less well understood. The “Alte Nationalgalerie“ in Berlin opens up this black box a bit through juxtaposition of Camille Claudel, Bernhard Hoetger as disciples of Auguste Rodin. The influences are rather obvious, yet each disciple developed her/his unique style. The emancipation was not without frictions. The galerist Eugène Blot organized a joint exposition of both disciples in 1905 in Paris, which is partly reproduced in Berlin 2025. Great work by the curators of the exhibition Yvette Deseyve and Sintje Guericke who managed to bring together unique sculptures from 3+ museums and a great explanation of the links between the artists as well as the proximity of ateliers. (Image: view of showroom in Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin, Claudel & Hoetger 2025)

24/08/202523/08/2025

Jewish Heritage

In the Germany of the 21st century, we have to dig deeper into history to understand the Jewish heritage due to the horrific terror of the Nazi-regime and it’s millions of supporters. The traces can be found in some historic photographs even in the countryside. Marie-Louise Conen and Hilde Weirich (2010) have thoroughly studied such documents for the Moselle village of Lösnich. The little annex to a house served as a Synagogue (image below). The village has a history of Jewish settlements which extended to neighboring villages as well. Interestingly, the heritage of Napoleon’s occupation of the Rhine and Moselle regions brought equally for all men (not yet women) and the separation of the state and religion making Jewish life, property acquisition more easy. The tolerance of the 19th century was then reversed by Nazi Germany again. History is present in many places, where we do not seem to expect it nowadays.

23/08/202522/08/2025

Napoleon legacy

It is huge historical project to try to summarize the legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte. AI is by design less hesitant to come up with any length of a summary statement some with good references on which the statement is based. In combination with a visit at Fontainebleau and a first hand impression of the environment of the autocratic ruler, the remainders like the introduction of a Civil Code to guide also administrations to lawful conduct, we still see influences of this legal innovation in many other countries across the globe. The recognition of Jews as equal citizens and to allow equal access to property and many professions have been influential across Europe mostly in occupied territories. Military service for Jews in Napoleon’s army was another consequence, which spread into the Prussian army and the 1st world war. It is in the 21st century that we see shifts towards more authoritarian governance styles spreading again, we did not want to see this happen until Russia‘s war in Ukraine. (Image: La Chair de la forêt, Frénésie des Géants by Wang Keping Fontainebleau 2025-8)

22/08/202521/08/2025

Fontainebleau time

In the Chateau Fontainebleau time seems to pass with a different speed compared to the busy times in Paris. Taking a stroll at the park, boating or horseback riding along the endless paths contributes to the perception of wide, open space and a different space-time experience. The measurement of time shown on a fine craftsmanship of a clock in the castle highlights the fact that there is more to time than just seconds and minutes. The hunch of the time that there is maybe a cosmic time beyond our calendar is a precursor of later scientific discoveries. Time in the early 19th century of Napoleon’s reign had just been restored from calendar of the French revolution. Whether time is counted as 2×12 hours or in 24 hours was also a matter of politics rather than rational decision making. The impressive clock in the Chateau Fontainebleau shows ambitious as much as awareness of defining and counting time, just like an absolute ruler might conceive it.

21/08/202520/08/2025

Fontainebleau walks

In the Fontainebleau gardens it is easy to reach your daily walking goals of 7000 a 10000 steps/day. Upon entry into the park you walk around the small lake. Towards the far end of the lake you’ll discover a long waterway which takes you beyond your usual walking distance due to the calm and great surroundings. The forests around the Fontainebleau gardens are another great walking or hiking exercise. You might find companions all along the trails. Just take enough water and food with you as there are no shops around, just you and nature. A bit of advance planning is necessary to make it a great experience.

20/08/202519/08/2025

Fontainebleau garden

The garden of Fontainebleau is huge. The design by “Le Notre” is splendid in its combination of trees, greens and water reserves. Beyond walking in the park you may enjoy a horse ride ora tour in a carriage, some even today. Boating is an additional amenity rarely available at other castles. In the Belvedere in the middle of the water basin romantic or secretive diplomatic conversations might take place. Politics and diplomacy have always needed special locations to prepare decisions. This is a historical constant.

19/08/202518/08/2025

Fontainebleau library

The “Galerie de Diane” in Fontainebleau has been built during Napoleon’s reign. It hosts the library with a large collection of books. The function of the books seems to be more to intimidate the persons passing by rather than ready for inspection. The globe at the entrance reflects the ambition of the ruler. The fact that you have to walk some stairs upwards increases the impression to be little compared to this universe of knowledge. It is great that libraries have flipped this perspective and today we study the period of Napoleon’s reign with our democratic values in mind. The top-down approach was the incarnation of Napoleon’s style of government. Despite the revival of such governance styles in the 21st century across the globe, they are unlikely to last for more years than Napoleon’s fate. A simple reason for this may be the only representative or intimidating role of knowledge in such forms of governance rather than an open mind approach.

18/08/202517/08/2025

Fontainebleau Throne

The French history is full of kings and emperors who have ruled the country. The Chateau Fontainebleau has the longest history of kings who lived there and held office, a pre-modern version of “home office”. The most remarkable and distinguished furniture of a king is the throne reserved for office hours. Napoleon created a special throne room at Fontainebleau which is also the only one preserved in its original form until today. It is just one of the home office rooms of the emperor. The antechambers, council room and study had to be passed before to reach the ear and audience of the emperor. The history of the home office and thrones have been intertwined ever since.

17/08/202516/08/2025

Paris Sorbonne

The history of the university on the left bank of “La Seine” dates back to 1257 when Robert de Sorbon an advisor to Louis IX was asked to create a unifying structure of several colleges which provided room and board already. The location on the left bank in Paris allowed these colleges to escape the religious doctrines and archbishop who dominated the right bank. The choice of the name of the advisor rather than the King was already showing early signs of independence which was cherished by generations of students and professors. The Colleges had individual names like “Collège des Bernardins” or “Collège de Navarre” and operated under the title of “La Sobonne”. The “Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet” shows an early design of the Collège de Navarre. Independent thinkers and writers were formed there who became very influential later on in their careers. Thomas d’Aquin was one of them.