The time between two semesters means no lectures, but Alicia von Schenk is not without work at the moment: several papers and applications urgently need to be completed. Schenk researches the influence of artificial intelligence – and she is one of the youngest professors in Germany. In autumn, the then 26-year-old accepted a call from the University of Würzburg to join the economics faculty. A conversation about age, experiments and the problem with mathematics.
SZ: Frau Professor – have you gotten used to the title yet?
Alicia von Schenk: Officially, I’m a junior professor with tenure track, even if people in Bavaria like to be addressed as professors. I don’t think about all that very much – but the call to the university was of course a giant leap.
You started in Würzburg in the fall, at the age of 26. How did your first semester go?
Overall very good. Because I’m not so far away from the students, it’s easy for me to empathize with them. I was also involved in the faculty straight away. For example, I’m happy to be the deputy women’s representative.
You are now on the other side of the lecture hall. What are your lectures about?
I teach on various topics. In the last semester, it was mainly behavioral economics: The strict assumption that people are always rational and looking for their own advantage is relaxed – and ideas from psychology are brought in to explain human behavior a little more realistically. In the coming semester I will be offering a course on organizational economics, which will deal, among other things, with how decisions are made in teams. And then there is the AI aspect.
Her area of expertise is: “Economics of organization and the effects of artificial intelligence”. Sounds complicated.
My research results highlight opportunities and risks in dealing with AI and algorithms. One risk, for example, would be that we humans behave less socially if we and each of our decisions are only a very small part of this huge big data. One opportunity would be: AI could, for example, ensure that people work better together in companies.
All highly topical if you look at the discussions about the bot chat GPT.
I find it exciting to look at the whole thing with economic methods. I conduct behavioral experiments, so I invite people who then interact with AI algorithms – and at the end I quantify the decisions.
Summarizing your research, it could be said that algorithms will have a lasting effect on the way we live and act together.
The technical progress is very impressive. I believe AI will help us work more efficiently. You can already see that to some extent today, for example in translation programs. But one must not forget that technology can influence our human decisions. I also see the economic sciences as having a duty to make a contribution.
You have a few years of research ahead of you. You started school at the age of four, graduated from high school at the age of 15 and then decided to study math. Why?
I liked the analytical, logical thinking. Mathematics also seemed to me to be a good basis. In everything else, I let myself be guided by my interests and therefore studied economics at the same time.
The mathematical and scientific field does not stand out with high proportions of women. Did you feel like an exotic student during your studies?
I never thought about that. One problem is that math at university is very different from that at school. There is often the prejudice that mathematics is not application-oriented, but a dry and inaccessible subject. And I think women are more easily put off by that – which is a shame.
Do we have to sell math differently to make it more interesting for women? Does it need more role models – one like you?
I hope to inspire younger women to think about a quantitative subject as well. That would make me happy. Just because I went a bit faster on the academic path, it now generates an attention that I never explicitly wanted or anticipated.
Your age got you into the media, the BR was there, the FAZ. Does that annoy you? Do you feel reduced to your now 27 years?
My age has never played a major role for me and my environment. But it now gives me the opportunity to express myself and maybe inspire or make a small difference. I see that as a good thing.
You also founded a start-up. What is it about?
For practical information processing via AI. We want to create networks to bring different actors together: people with similar business ideas, for example. Or people who have similar ambitions but work in different disciplines in business or science and therefore know nothing about each other.
A kind of Tinder for researchers, without the amorous.
Yes, and hopefully longer term!
Founder, professor – there is probably little time left for anything else.
I try to create space for sport and nature. And I really like taking photos, there are beautiful motifs in Würzburg.
What do you like about the city?
It is young and lively: on the one hand with many students and a traditional university, on the other hand with great buildings such as the fortress and the residence. I like these contrasts. And the university’s botanical garden is so green and quiet that it’s a great place to think about research projects.
You are years ahead of the academic career path. What do you do with the time you save?
There’s a lot going on in Bavaria when it comes to digital transformation. My hope is that I can make my contribution to this. Otherwise, of course, the next goal is to make the step from junior professorship to permanent professorship. In academia it is not a matter of course to have a long-term option, many factors have to come together.
Do you have a tip, especially for young women, on how to climb further up the pointed pyramid?
One must not be discouraged. But that is not easy in the academic system, the chances are not huge, especially if the research interests are more specific. But you have to have the courage to do your own thing. It is worth it ..