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Die Einholung eines Ethikvotums ist in der Medizin verpflichtend. Auch in anderen Disziplinen ist eine ethische Beurteilung häufig notwendig. Bisher gibt es nur wenig hierfür zuständige Stellen. Die gemeinsame Ethik-Kommission der Hochschulen Bayerns (GEHBa) füllt diese Lücke. Anträge können gestellt werden unter www.gehba.de.

AI regulation, defining norms, and governance regarding AI are not only difficult endeavors due to rapid development of AI technology; the complexity of the issue at stake alone and its social, economic, societal, and political aspects raise far-reaching and interdependent challenges. Given globalized research and development as well as the worldwide use of AI, national regulations are probably doomed to fail; supranational norms, regulation, and governance, in turn, pose the problem of enforceability. Not least for this reason, current regulatory approaches differ greatly in terms of their sophistication and effectiveness, because, among other things, the stakeholders involved have rather different interests as well as exert influence in different ways and varying degrees; simultaneously those stakeholders vie for imposing their view and interpretation regarding the discourse on defining norms, regulation, and governance of AI. The complexity of the situation is also increased because AI can be directly and indirectly regulated, and norms can be directly and indirectly imposed, but there is also regulation of humans and their behavior by AI. This paper aims to illustrate the complexity of the field, introduces types of actors, describes various regulatory approaches, and provides a preliminary assessment of the possibilities of defining norms, regulation, and governance of AI.

Determinants of household electricity consumption measured by smart meters found by the authors in a scoping review were analyzed for the example of Germany utilizing the 2018 Survey of Income and Expenditure. All variables identified in the scoping review were covered in the survey (number and type of appliances, sociodemographic, and dwelling-related aspects). One can therefore use this large representative data set to test these relationships for German households. Expenditure on electricity is considered an indicator of household electricity consumption. The determinants show weak to moderate correlations with energy expenditure in bivariate analyses. The multivariate analysis shows effects of household-specific, dwelling-related, and appliance-specific factors. Models considering only one aspect overestimate this effect. Thus, all three aspects should be considered simultaneously when explaining residential electricity consumption. The largest effects are found for electricity as the main energy source for heating, the number of household members, as well as their presence at home. While household structure plays an important part in explaining residential energy consumption, dwelling and appliance-related aspects influence it as well. The latter aspects may be influenced by appropriate policy measures.