Jascha Bareis

Dr. Jascha Bareis is a Senior Researcher at the Human-IST Institute, University of Fribourg, where he investigates the sociopolitical dimensions of artificial intelligence. His work bridges civilian/military AI applications, tech oligarchy dynamics, political communication, and democratic theory, with complementary expertise in technology assessment and trust in emerging technologies. He collaborates with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) on normative analyses of lethal autonomous weapons systems.

He holds a Dr. phil. from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, an MA in Political Theory (double degree from Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and Technical University Darmstadt), and a Bachelor in Liberal Arts from University College Maastricht.

Bareis's research centers on deconstructing AI's societal impact through critical lenses: examining how hype shapes public perception, analyzing geopolitical narratives in military AI policies, and evaluating trust frameworks in technology governance. His interdisciplinary approach integrates political science, ethics, and science & technology studies to address democratic challenges in algorithmic systems.

His publications consistently explore AI's normative dimensions, with recurring themes including: the "trustification" of AI systems as legitimization tools, comparative analysis of national AI strategy discourses, ethical risks in autonomous weapons, and regulatory responses to emerging technologies. Methodologically, he employs discourse analysis, sociotechnical imaginaries, and policy evaluation across these works.

Bareis actively disseminates findings through international venues including EASST/4S, IAMCR, and ICPP conferences. Key presentations address LLM knowledge production, the EU AI Act's political negotiations, and hermeneutics of technological seduction. He maintains affiliations with HIIG's research program The evolving digital society: concepts, discourses, materialities and contributes to public discourse via media outlets like Der Standard.