On February 12, we will be hosted by SPIEGEL. At the meetup, we will examine various applications of AI in research and verification. Where can AI support the review of one’s own texts, how can it be used in large-scale data investigations, and what are (and aren’t) AI detection tools capable of?
When
Thursday, February 12, 2026, from 1 PM to 6 PM
Where
SPIEGEL-Haus, Ericusspitze 1, 20457 Hamburg
Agenda
as of January 28th, 2026
1:00 PM Welcome by Thorsten Dörting, Managing Editor, DER SPIEGEL, and Uli Köppen, Chief AI Officer, Bavarian Broadcasting (Bayerischer Rundfunk).
1:10 PM Keynote “The Question of Trust: Technical Solutions or Social Problems?”. Ole Reißmann, Head of AI, SPIEGEL Group
1:20 PM Fact-checking: How AI Supports Manuscript Verification. Gerret von Nordheim, Deputy Head of Documentation, DER SPIEGEL
1:35 PM Large-Scale Data Investigations: How AI Assists Instead of Hallucinating. Susmita Arp, Deputy Head of AI Projects, SPIEGEL Documentation
1:55 PM Presentation of the Survey Project “AI in Journalism: What Do We Need, How Do We Work Together?, Dr. Michael Graßl, Professor of Journalism and Digital Innovation, Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Jonas Schützeneder, Professor of Digital Journalism, Bundeswehr University Munich
2:10 PM The Forger’s Toolkit – Which AI Systems Can Produce Which Images and Audio
Jan Eggers, Data Journalist, WDR Data
2:30 PM Break
3:00 PM Tool-Demo: Gretchen AI (Jakob Tesch, Government Relations & Strategy), Neuramancer (Anika Gruner, Co-CEO), Lumid (Hans Brorsen, Co-CEO und Daniel Larena Baumann, COO)
3:15 PM What Can AI Tools Deliver in Verification – and Where Are Journalists Still Essential? Panel discussion with Jakob Tesch, GretchenAI, Anika Gruner, Neuramancer, Jana Heigl, Team Lead “Faktenfuchs”, Bavarian Broadcasting, Stefan Voß, Head of Verification, dpa. Moderation: Isabel Lerch, Data Journalist and AI Scout, North German Broadcasting.
4:00 PM Problem Pitch: Problem Pitch, Post-Publication Content Check with AI, How Can We Get False Positives Under Control? Riccardo Longo, Editorial Tech & Operations, BILD
4:20 PM AI Flashlight Talks
4:30 PM Networking
6:00 PM End of event
Moderation: Bernd Oswald, Project Manager, AI for Media Network
Sign-Up
The meetup is fully booked. Please note that the meetup is an in-person event and will be held in German.