Susanne Förster is research associate in the project Agentic Media – Formations of Semi-Autonomy as part of the Collaborative Research Center Media of Cooperation at the University of Siegen, Germany. Her doctoral research focuses on practices and discourses surrounding the development, use, and testing of machine learning models. Using expert interviews and field research methods, she investigates the sense-making methods of actors involved in development. She is currently focusing on discussions about evaluating and benchmarking language models and about (unexpected) “malfunctions” (“hallucinations”) that are unfolding in computer science literature. Susanne holds degrees in Sociology and Science and Technology Studies from Bielefeld University and TU Berlin respectively. At that time, she worked for the Institute of Science and Technology Studies (IWT), Bielefeld, and for the MA-program in Science Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Prior to her position at the University of Siegen, she worked for Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin, where she recently coordinated the exhibition “Aby Warburg: Bilderatlas Mnemosyne – The Original” and managed the publication of the accompanying folio book.

• Science and Technology Studies
• Science Studies
• Critical Data Studies

2025

Förster, Susanne and Skop, Yarden. 2025 "Between fact and fairy: tracing the hallucination metaphor in AI discourse". AI & Society. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02392-w

2023

Förster, Susanne. 2023. “The Bigger the Better? The Size of Language Models and the Dispute over Alternative Architectures”. A Peer-Reviewed Journal About 12 (1): 120-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7146/aprja.v12i1.140444. 

Förster, Susanne. 2023. “Small Talk: About the Size of Language Models”. Toward a Minor Tech: A Peer-reviewed Newspaper 12 (1): 2. URL: cc.vvvvvvaria.org/wiki-to-print/pdf/Toward_a_Minor_Tech.