Dr. Joachim Heinze, Senior Advisor Mathematical Sciences, Springer Verlag GmbH

Chensong Zhang, Professor

Rethinking Knowledge Infrastructure from Printing to Intelligent Systems

9:30-10:30 May 5 (Tuesday), S315

For the first time since Gutenberg (c. 1450), the infrastructure of knowledge production is undergoing a fundamental transformation—and with it, the everyday practice of Scientific Research.

This lecture traces the long arc of knowledge infrastructure: from Bi Sheng’s movable type in 11th‑century China, through Gutenberg’s printing revolution, to Konrad Zuse’s programmable computation (1941)—and finally to today’s AI systems. These systems are no longer merely tools. They represent a new class of learning machines that actively shape how knowledge is generated, validated, and communicated.

As a result, the role of the researcher is shifting—from producer to curator?, from author to critical interpreter of probabilistic outputs. At the same time, new risks emerge, including an illusion of reliability: high performance in controlled settings can break down sharply in real‑world interaction, especially in high‑stakes contexts such as medical AI.

Drawing on historical perspective, contemporary case studies, and personal experience in scientific publishing, the lecture explores both the transformative potential and the structural limitations of these technologies.

At its core, the lecture is structured around a series of Warnings — from Medicine, from Counting and from Geography. They are not meant as criticism, but as triggers to provoke discussion, reflection, and direct feedback—especially from students and early-career researchers.