MoralPLai Project Lead at TUM tanzt! 2025: Exploring AI, Identity and the Power of Art

MoralPLai Project lead Dr. Franziska Poszler was part of  this year’s TUM tanzt! festival, held on June 28–29th, 2025. Jointly initiated by the TUM Center for Culture and Arts and the TUM School of Medicine and Health, the event was part of  Kunstareal-Fest 2025 and brought together science, art and society through performances, workshops and public dialog.

Concluding its first project cycle, the MoralPLai Project brings together philosophical, technical and artistic perspectives to explore the ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence.

A key partner in this endeavor is the TUM Center for Culture and Arts, under the artistic direction of Prof. Felix Mayer, whose creative leadership has helped boost the project’s approach to exploring how the arts can illuminate complex societal issues. A partnership that highlights the critical importance of integrating artistic expression into academic research and broader public discourse.

A standout moment of the TUM tanzt! was the performance roboTICKS, which took place on June 28th in the TUM Enrollment Hall. The production offered a compelling reflection on the intersection of technology and identity, presenting a choreographed encounter between a human (Ludger Lamers) and his robotic double. The performance explored themes of self-awareness and questioned the boundaries between humanity and machine, and between reality and artificiality.

roboTICKS is a variation of their REPLIK_A performance, which can be accessed here:

REPLIK_A (12min): https://vimeo.com/883532599
REPLIK_A (total cut 47min): https://vimeo.com/924156614
REPLIK_A (TRAILER 4min): https://vimeo.com/917928345

Following the performance, the panel discussion ARTificial Encounters was moderated by Dr. Franziska Poszler, project lead of MoralPLai at the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence. The discussion brought together artists, researchers and the audience to reflect on the deeper implications raised by roboTICKS.

Panelists included PD Dr. Jörg-Wilhelm Wernecke, a member of the TUM Department of Science, Technology and Society, Ludger Lamers, an internationally recognized dancer and lecturer in contemporary dance, and Michael Krauss, a Stuttgart-based freelance director and video artist. The conversation examined how the android featured in the performance was developed from both a technical and artistic standpoint. The panel explored the priorities and challenges in designing the mechanical body, and how the android’s movements compared to those of the human dancer.

They also discussed the broader implications of human-machine interactions. The similarities and discontinuities between dancer and robot were seen as a reflection of our evolving societal relationship with technology. Ethical concerns emerged, particularly around the mimicking of human gestures and presence by machines, raising the question of where we draw the line between imitation and embodiment.

Dr. Poszler also reflected on MoralPLai’s own experience. “Aithona”, was the chatbot character at The Third Voice, the artistic output of the MoralPLai Project. She noted the challenge of creating a voice that neither imitates nor mimics a human one. This difficulty raised questions about the anthropomorphism of technology and the risks it poses, particularly for audiences with limited AI literacy who may struggle to distinguish between human and machine.

The panel further explored how a performer’s physical presence changes when engaging with an artificial counterpart like a robotic double, and how contemporary scientific and technological developments informed the design of roboTICKS. They emphasized that art can serve as a vital medium for communicating scientific and technological ideas, making them more accessible, emotionally engaging and socially relevant.

A Q&A session with the audience closed the evening, offering participants the opportunity to voice their perspectives. Questions raised included the impact of such technologies on younger generations and what these human-machine interactions might mean in everyday life.

The following day, Dr. Franziska Poszler explored additional creative projects showcased at the Kunstareal Festival 2025. For example, in the “Ubuntu” project, students from a wide range of disciplines collaborated with choreographer Dr. Ellen Steinmüller from ExisTanz to create a dance company in only six days of rehearsals, culminating a performance at the Rotunda of the Pinakothek der Moderne.

Aligned with MoralPLai’s mission, TUM tanzt! demonstrated how artistic methods – such as dance and sound art – can make research more accessible and relatable, while also encouraging interactive public engagement.

Interested to learn more? Visit the MoralPLai Project webpage and stay tuned for updates.

Check also TUM’s official press release “Looking back on the Kunstareal Festival 2025”.