Schoemann – Research Teaching Consulting

22/04/202621/04/2026

Agentic AI Gardening

The use of AI is probably most popular for professional purposes as efficiency and economic productivity are major concerns in these fields of applications. Another whole lot of applications is rapidly developing as well, which is Agentic AI in hobbies like gardening. The use of IT in gardening has previously been reserved to landscape designers and maybe urban to rural planners. Cheap access to AI on a test basis or within your browser has widened access to computer and AI assistance for gardening purposes. Colorful designs and selection of species to enrich biodiversity are widely available now. The next step is, of course, agentic use of AI. If we have a sufficient number of sensors installed (and use weather forecast data as well), the data from the garden can easily be analyzed by AI and the mower or water pump can get going to do the job for us. This is not rocket science but only sensors, data and a couple of “if …, then” commands. The kind of pleasure will have changed accordingly shifting from the watering of plants to the satisfaction of successful programming. No value judgement here. The latter option has, however, a considerable business potential of almost industrial or agro-economic scale.

21/04/202620/04/2026

Gardening Evolution

Researchers continue to study the impact of gardening on biodiversity and survival of insects. The study published by Tscharntke, Batáry and Vidal (2026) points our attention to the importance of areas in our gardens that are allowed to grow without mowing for several years. In many traditional gardening projects even in the 21^st century, we observe a cut of grass-shoots in fairly regular time intervals, once a months for example. An English style lawn will be cut very short even more often than this. If we want to allow for an evolution of gardening and regaining biodiversity, we shall have to reserve substantial areas of a garden to allow grass-shoots to grow over several years (!). Such an evolution might be perceived in 2026 a bit like a revolution in gardening. Untidy spots are a response to “the need for unmown long-term refuges, protecting intact grass shoots for persistent insect populations” (Tscharntke et al. , 2026). The tree “Cercis siliquastrum” (Judas-tree) in the “Jardin des Plantes” in Paris dates back to 1785 and shows the impressive strength of nature to outlast changing gardening fashions even in a hotspot of gardening culture, history and evolution. Grass-shoots below might be allowed to last a couple of years as well.

20/04/202619/04/2026

Abduction of Europa

In reading Ovid’s metamorphoses we learn about all those mythical transformations of persons into animals (Jupiter into a bull) or persons into plants (Narcissus into a flower carrying his name). Maybe even today we have Europa being captured again by a bull or bulls that try to take away the freedom of movement and expression from her. The threats have multiplied, but the defensive forces of Europe have risen as well. The power of Europe might simply consist in the charming nature, which outlasts brutal force of the bulls, at least in the long run. A ride on the bull, however, can be tough at times and preparing for a tough ride should start as early as possible. Currently there are too many bulls around to feel safe otherwise. (Image: Europa sculpture on display at Chateau Chantilly).

19/04/202617/04/2026

Before and After

It is not always easy to precisely identify the state of before a transformation from the state of after a transformation. In human developments we can observe lengthy periods of for example puberty. Other transformations of biological changes might be more obvious to identify like a broken bone, but a broken heart transformation might be less obvious as it might occur gradually and progressively rather than abruptly. Much the same can be said about illnesses like diabetes or cancer. The task of science is to study the whole process and this includes the theoretical model of such transformations. The arts have dealt with this complexity before and many artifacts take care to show or make explicit the kind of transformation they have undergone. The woodwork by Birkenmaier (before 1687, in catalog of Metamorphosis exhibition, Amsterdam 2026. Image below) is an early example of being honest about original piece and the evolution of the piece of art into the transformed “oeuvre”.

18/04/202617/04/2026

Metamorphosis

In the antique writings of Ovid “Metamorphosis” there is an extensive description and mystery about the metamorphosis of several characters. The narrative about various forms of metamorphosis has influenced our perception of change as having a mystic component. The arts before the enlightenment have drawn lots of sceneries of metamorphoses across the centuries. Maybe in form of sculpture this narrative has continued to be present even into the 20th century. The exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the essays in the catalog testify to this long shadow of Ovid’s original narrative. No need to mention Kafka as another adept of “Verwandlung” or Rodin, who reveals persons as semi-detached from stone. Wood and the return to ashes shows us the come and go of metamorphosis of human beings. Imagining mankind as a sequence of metamorphoses is a metaphysical as well as sociological perspective of our presence on our planet. (Image: Daphne transformed into a Laurel tree, Bernard Salomon, 1557).

16/04/202615/04/2026

Electric ships

The transformation of mobility to an all electric mobility has been discussed mainly with regard to a narrow vision of the automotive sector. Beyond land based vehicles like lorries, buses, cars and bicycles or electrification of trains, shipping has been a niche market of the all electric society. The amateurs of silent shipping, sailing and surfing have explored and adopted the electric alternatives for quite some time. The professional ferry boats and river crossings have also opportunities to join the all electric society with a range of ships available for orders like from “Ampereship”. The increasing share of electric fun on water and electricity-propelled ships gives additional drive to the “All-electric-society”.

15/04/202614/04/2026

Switch off

We have many associations with the imperative “switch off”. Depending on your background or state of mind, you might associate “to switch off” with a mental state, i.e. to calm down. Instead of buzzing about, juggling with multiple projects or deadlines at the same time, the reduction on a few major preoccupations can be achieved through a switch-off. In electrical engineering the switch, as switch-off or switch-on, is a key component of electrical circuits. In programming languages a key element is the switch implemented as an “if-condition” in form of “do if X=True”, in its easiest form.
Let us develop a social science corollary of a theoretical concept of “switch-off”. At times of energy shortages the switch-off option becomes an often overlooked or discarded option. Switch-off an engine to lower overall consumption of energy is a very powerful mechanisms. We do this manually by switching off lights, or as programmed or AI-assisted versions in modern homes. States might impose the switch-off of street lights or loud music after certain hours. In an energy crisis the switch-off option needs to be moved to center stage again as any MegaWattHour not consumed does not have to be (1) produced, (2) moved to local provision and (3) distributed. Additionally there is (4) less waste that has to be taken care of. Hence, the switch-off option is a fourfold win-win-win-win-situation. Who cares about this option as all 4 kinds of savings do not increase a standard measure of GDP in an economy? Broader social science perspectives may offer precious indications that “less can be more“.

14/04/202613/04/2026

AI Motion Sculpture

At the Festival Noûs in Paris, the collaboration of AI with artists was a major event. Based on the huge collections of the BNF in form of data bases it is possible to join the 3 worlds of library conservation, technological innovation like AI and the imagery of artists. In the preparation of the exhibits and the parallel documentation of the genesis of the exhibits of the artists, the creative potential and process becomes more evident and understandable to broader audiences. The exhibit by Tobias Gremmler, Anatomy of Motion (2026 see below), captures the motion of a dancing body in a sculpture based on a 3D printing of a series of images blended into each other. with a fast photography camera, known from sports images previously, the dynamics of a motion become a tangible sculpture. The intriguing new form is in fact a motion that has been captured or has cristalized or materialized in a permanent fashion. New technologies and materials enter into art as they offer new ways of expression as well. The collection of art and documentation centers shall enter into new phases as well. (Image: Tobias Gremmler, Anatomy of Motion (2026) at BNF 2026-4).

13/04/202612/04/2026

Mind mapping

The exhibition in Paris on “Cartes imaginaires” at the BNF regroups treasures of maps across centuries in an interesting way. The technique of putting together elements in a map has been developed and refined over long time spans. Map are mostly in our minds as depictions of geographical details allowing a broader overview amidst lots of detail. The mind mapping of today as a managerial or pedagogical tool is not much different even if AI might make is believe that it is a modern tool. The exhibit of “The island of Marriage” (image below BNF, “Cartes imaginaires”) in the middle of lots of distractions and potential distractions has a particular charm to it as it tells many tales and storylines for writing lives and novels. Our own lives or the depiction of life courses might be represented in a single map, maybe even comparable to a sequence analysis of events. The history and potential of maps and lives as mind maps is going to accompany us for quite some time as it already did for centuries.

12/04/202611/04/2026

Critique of Maps

From a sociological perspective on maps we learn for example, that maps are also instruments to reflect property rights. This can be past claims of imperialism or recent claims of independence. A depiction as a map has historical and societal implications. Superposition of maps according to political, cultural or linguistic communities often reveal contested areas of domination and liberation movements. The specialized field of the history of maps can sharpen the senses for a critical view of maps in the 21st century. (Image: Brankiza Zilovic, Nusquama 1984 exhibition “Cartes imaginaires’ BNF Paris).

11/04/202610/04/2026

Fact and Fiction on Maps

As a matter of fact, for centuries maps have played in both registers, fact and faction. In geography we expect maps to represent geographical facts, and yet based on a historical perspective on the subject, we realize that early cartographers had to brush over, at their time unknown, territories. What did many of them do? They imagined what could be the case.
In the early days of “creating a map” the artists had to rely on some sort of fiction or were intentionally creating a fictive image of the unknown world. Out of this “science and fiction” approach, a whole discipline of literature has evolved, science-fiction. The imagery of Manga-mania in the 2020s owes a lot to this drawing and mapping of fiction in form of stories.
Maps tell lots of stories. They are powerful in their neurological function, similar to mind maps that are a tool to structure our thoughts or story lines. The gesture to point at an area on a map of the Arctic, Greenland for example, can send shivers across the globe. Maps make stories and stories may lead (eventually) to shifts of attribution on maps. In the same vein: the mapping of power also reflects the power of maps, be they based on facts or fiction.
(Image: Exhibition: Cartes imaginaires, BNF Paris 2026-4-8, Gerardus Mercator, Map of North Pole 1595)

10/04/202609/04/2026

Interests in failures

Decades or centuries after a successful or unsuccessful innovation, an evaluation of the reasons and circumstances of a temporary or permanent failure is informative. In the energy sector we observe another round of a power play in 2026. The more decentralized energy production and energy consumption models have been quickly put aside shortly after the oil crises of 1973 and 1979. The innovations using wind energy or solar energy of the 1980s have been discarded and were commonly considered as failures to provide cheap and reliable energy. An open international economy with expanding global markets for energy were perceived as a superior conventional solution. A country’s balance sheet of imports of energy and exports of higher value goods and services was the predominant economic rational and standard knowledge of the mainstream theory of trade. Other solutions, like a distributed “prosumer” model of energy might have ecological benefits, but would not show up in national GDP-statistics as a large part is home-produced energy and not accounted for in statistical measures of GDP, just like the home produced meals, health and care provided by mostly women. Societies, however, have a choice and an obligation to evaluate the interests in failures as economic and social development hinges on it in the medium to long run.

09/04/202609/04/2026

Failure as criticism

The production of an object, which does not abide by the norms and conventions of its designated use, can either be considered a failure, a commercial flop or a critical comment on consumerism. In some instances it may even have the intention to produce art rather than a useful product. A tea or coffee pot may serve as such an example of it (see image below). It is designed not to serve tea or coffee in a conventional way. Such an object invites us to think around the corner, whether we could still use it in the “normal” way. We are forced to innovate as user or we just leave the object aside. The Flops exhibition also included early car examples which used a “Wankel car engine” and the aerodynamic adjusted car model (shape of a peach) of the R14 in its flops collection which were early precursors of a, later on widely followed, car design principle. Such an aerodynamic car design saves energy and therefore increases the reach of the car without refueling or battery charging.

Overall, some supposed failures are more indications that we are not easily prepared to accept behavioral changes or alternative visions of products.

08/04/202606/04/2026

Learn from failures

It is easier said than done. Acknowledge a failure and most people will probably pretend to know better already. Don’t worry. This is not the case. Many of the best “learnings” have come from learnings from failures, be they own mistakes or of other persons, organizations or institutions. If you really want to learn from a person, try to get honest take home messages from their “best” failures. Marc Aurel has proposed this in his writings on governance and, prior to him, Aristotle compared Greek constitutions to derive the most adequate, or the best of the many failures to achieve democracy. This is a perspective if you aim to improve on the achievements of current or past actors. Incumbents can only tell you about how they got where they are currently, not about any likelihood of future occasions. Hence, current failures are a very valid source for learning.

07/04/202606/04/2026

Time dependent failure

The collection of failures has an ambiguous relationship with time. Some innovations that are celebrated at a specific point in time shall be considered failures at some later point in time. The Musée des Arts et Metiers has an early version of a solar panel on display dating back to 1996 (see image below, Photowatt 1996). This example reflects the cycles of public as well as expert opinions about technical innovations that either are en vogue or at disgrace. Ecological, design and economic considerations enter into the consideration of what constitutes a failure. Claims of European energy sovereignty may additionally enter into the failure equation. The time horizon over which energy savings are generated is yet another element in the judgement. The more general perspective should take sustainability and depreciation of quality of an object into consideration. The Flops exhibition just scratches a bit on the surface of an important and rather complex issue of the relationship of society, technology and innovation. Surely, there is more to come in terms of flops and failures, and this is okay in most cases.

05/04/202604/04/2026

Fail collection

The not-so-social media have been flooded with collections of failures. The success of this short video format is mostly due to its entertainment value. A quick laugh is guaranteed if a certain intention is turned into its opposite. You want to take a witty shortcut but effectively you end up with a lengthy or painful lesson of the opposite. The fail collection of the CNAM in Paris has a similar attraction. The “Flops” exhibition in 2026 exposes a larger number of technical innovations that either did not reach the mass markets or that were “flawed good ideas”. In fact to put an innovative idea or design into practice it takes a lot in addition to engineering intelligence and professional competence and experience. The collection of documentary evidence invites us to explore the topic of what constitutes a failure and why failure is an intrinsic part of the creative process of trial and error, fail, fail again and fail better. (Image Musée Arts et Metiers 2026).

04/04/202603/04/2026

Electricity generation

On a global scale, electricity generation based on wind and solar has been growing quite fast since the year 2010-2024. Wind and solar have outpaced nuclear energy production as well as the stagnant sector of water based energy production. The Global Electricity Review by EMBER provides the statistical evidence for this evolution in 2025.
The interesting evolution arises mainly because countries with a lower level of GDP have invested heavily in solar and wind energy as this form of decentralized energy production does not need heavy investments in network infrastructure. Countries with larger population growth can keep up with electricity generation according to local needs. Local production and consumption become a key in strategies of local development. The finding that households in low-income countries use on average only 1 kWh per day is an amount that 2 small solar panels can already cater for (example image below).
Countries next to the equator have relatively constant days of 12 hours daylight across a whole year. The feasibility of no-carbon sustainable energy production is driving global growth in this sector.

03/04/202602/04/2026

Electric Dynamo

Mr. Zénabe Gramme born in 1826 has developed the first electronic dynamo, which transforms kinetic energy into electricity. The turning of a wheel is sufficient to produce enough electrical energy to light a bulb or several LEDs. The inventor is honored in front of the museum of the CNAM in Paris (see image below). The reach of this invention has changed the lives of many people until today and for many years to come. The “all electric society” builds on such examples of inventions that become common knowledge only years or decades later. Financing such research and experiments can have enormous benefits for a society or even humanity as a whole.

02/04/202601/04/2026

Fan of fan

The fan and the French version of it called “eventail” served thousands of ladies across history. Ventilation is key, even in times of air conditioning being all around us. Instead of bulky electric pocket fay, the eventail is surely going to make a splendid comeback. This utensil serves both as cooling device as well as fashionable accessories. The craft of making one has almost been forgotten, but the Musée de la Mode preserves some of the finest examples of the tiny heroes of global warming.

01/04/202631/03/2026

Artificial flowers

The craft to imitate the beauty of flowers is in fact at least 200 years old. The skill linked to the production has been documented in a manual which seems to be forgotten by today. Real as well as artificial flowers have been an accessory in fashion for centuries. In 2025-26 they return again in high fashion in all shapes and colors. The technique has also been documented in textbooks that explain the “how to…” the craft and professionalism (see image below). The time consuming activity has been outsourced from Europe long ago, but the basic techniques still were refined and mass production prepared for the sharing of the pleasures. It is an interesting case study of the sociology of technology or the rise and fall of an industry which occasionally has a surprising comeback. To follow parts of the trajectory just visit the Musée de la Mode in Paris, Palais Galliera.

31/03/202630/03/2026

AI and Social sycophancy

The study by Myra Chen et al. (2026) on the practical use of various AI tools demonstrates the risks of social sycophancy of these models. Maybe a large part of the initial success of AI models exactly due to sycophancy i. e. the people-pleasing, flattering and affirmative bias of these models. If users of AI just receive predominantly confirmations and reassurance of their intended behavior, they shall be less inclined to accept more outright criticism in normal interactions with real people. The more you receive flattering responses by some people, the more likely they have used AI in preparing themselves for a response. The rigorous psychological tests applied in the paper can in fact explain a large part of why we are likely to become addicted to the always flattering responses from the current versions of AI. Only the scientists will consciously seek for disapproval of their beliefs and keep challenging the AI-provided returns. Even using different AI models did not change the affirmation bias. Maybe programming a “grumpy old professor AI” as an alternative could do the trick. I shall have to think seriously about this as the alternative to current models. The critical AI is most likely not a viable business opportunity, but it might survive many other sycophantic AI unicorns. (Image: waist coat 18th century, Paris exhibit Musée de la mode 2026).

29/03/202627/03/2026

Master AI

In 2025 the exhibition “Cartooning for Peace” at the BNF in Paris had already an exhibit authored by Stellina Chen from Taiwan, which summarized the evolution and projected the consequences of an all encompassing AI revolution (Image below taken at exhibition 2025 BNF). Currently we exercise ourselves in using various forms of AI or learn how to program them ourselves. It is our aim to master the new technology so it becomes a helpful tool. However, there are already many instances where it is no longer us mastering AI, but the AI has turned around the table and has started to master us. The applications of AI have entered our work tasks, tries and frequently succeeds in improvements of our routines and processes.
In private life a similar revolution is happening, when AI offers advice, which is hard not to follow and very convincing most of the time. Since getting involved in a conversion with AI tests your logic and debating competences, we find ourselves more and more in situations where AI is telling us what to do in the best of a convincing manner. After centuries of humanity to find freedom from oppression and the freedom to what we want ourselves, we seem to be ready to hand over control to AI. We are just like toddlers in this respect, willing or obliged to follow our master.

28/03/202627/03/2026

Antichambrer

In political circles it has been a common practice to “antichambrer”. It traditionally meant that topics are discussed in smaller circles before they are presented to the ruling royals or aristocrats. In modern democracies this role of more or less open “antichambre” (lobbying) is probably best translated as a form of consulting, which builds on personal contacts and small group discussions.
Scientists play a specific role in this political endeavor as they have to offer theories, hypotheses and evidence to support lines of argumentation to convince decision makers. Spin doctors, who know how to turn (around) an argument are, of course, present as well. All this represents the political, religious and business arena. All this happens in splendid locations that are part of the game of convincing, just as much as diplomacy.
The theater play “L’antichambre” by Jean-Claude Brisville, (produced by Alpha Théâtre in Paris 2026) sets the play in a historical 18^th century scenario to unfold the intricacies of “antichambrer”, less in the political arena, but in view of the personal turbulence in may engender. (Image: Château Chantilly Antichambre)

27/03/202626/03/2026

Dementia Prevention

The United Nations reports on countries’ activities like dementia prevention plans. Focus is on the medical sociological analysis in which dementia is not only determined by a person’s individual life course, but it is also a society-level issue. Looking at dementia prevalence and incidence over time as well as major known risk factors, Mukadam et al. (2024) conclude that low education level, smoking, obesity, hypertension and diabetes all contribute substantially to the risk of dementia. The trick with education is simple. If you start on a dementia trajectory from a high level of education, it will take longer until you are fully dependent on other persons. For the other causes there intrinsic or genetic components, but a large share of dementia risks can be reduced through behavioral changes early in life. My all time and all ages favorite is walk whenever and as long as you can.

25/03/202624/03/2026

Totalitarian Totality

In political science we study totalitarian regimes across history in order to better understand how the decline into authoritarian and then totalitarian regimes occurred. But it is not only a matter of historical interest. Authoritarian regimes can get worse, like the Nazi-terror demonstrated and it propagated and applied “total war”. Across the world it is necessary to keep monitoring the war like situations of hybrid war and whether we might have to face again totalitarian regimes entering into all encompassing terror and war. It is the people, no matter from which country, who will suffer the most. The installation by Monia Ben Hamouda in the art gallery ChertLuedde allows us to think beyond or what remains “After totality” (image below from 2026-3-24). Maybe the challenge to make people think beyond the totality is the only way to prevent it from happening or totality being repeated. The experience of the installation is impressive and encourages us to question every attempt of totality especially of totalitarian regimes.

24/03/202623/03/2026

Urban rural voters

On Sunday 2026-3-22 local elections of the 2nd round took place in France and some parts and cities in Bavaria. The voters have in both instances confirmed the hypothesis that voters have very different preferences for political parties along the cleavage of urban versus rural voters. The sociological issue consists in the different socioeconomic as well as educational backgrounds of the populations. Across the 2 countries inner cities have environmental issues, safe transport and rents as major concerns. In rural areas a feeling of being disconnected and left behind is frequently the predominant concern, often in terms of lacking transportation infrastructure. Voters on the local level have a more direct connection to their elected politicians and scrutinize implementation as well as promises more closely. This is a much more complex issue for voters on the national level as more topics enter the equation. The political agenda, therefore, differs substantially for urban and rural voters. This is a tough challenge for the nationwide campaign teams to test the validity of their agenda locally as well.