Week 1.
Fellow Laidlaw Scholar Albee and I took the first of five trains at 06:17 BST, 06/07/26, leaving behind Albee’s serene hometown of Lewes. I brought with me one suitcase, one backpack, and a rather painful mouth ulcer I had picked up by over-enthusiastically eating a plain slice of bread at Love Supreme Jazz festival three days prior. At the time of writing (15:22 CET, 10/07/2026) the ulcer has luckily faded. It did, however, disrupt the pleasure of both meals taken on the journey.
Each of the five trains was straightforward and comfortable, and we made good use of the 15 hours spent on them by perusing the literature produced by the Impact AI team (in whose office I am currently sat) at HIIG. We had agreed with them to work in Berlin, on their Impact-AI-Method – an auditing framework for AI-projects which purport to contribute to the public interest and sustainability.
Upon arriving in Berlin, we made our way to a temporary living situation. Due to certain facts pertaining to our rent agreement, we could only move into our apartment later in the week. Thus, we convinced the owners of the Generator Hostel, Alexanderplatz, to host us in the meantime. For those with a preference for privacy whilst showering, I would recommend seeking alternative arrangements. I will say no more on the matter.
In central Berlin, nestled in between Vanda Pharmaceuticals and Dr. Alfried Heidbrink’s Therapieplattform für neurogene Sprachstörungen, you will find the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (or ‘HIIG’, if you are impatient). A somewhat grand entrance leads to a bright, open space, resembling the ‘start-up’ vibe promised by such hits as Vince Vaughn’s hilariously warm The Internship and HBO’s incisive Silicon Valley.
For me, the office is an unfamiliar work environment. My more productive hours have generally been spent in libraries, kitchens, or rehearsal rooms. Our much needed orientation was hosted by the data scientist on our 6-person team, as the other members were away at conferences or with plague (fear not, they have since recovered). Tasked with familiarising ourselves with the Impact-AI-method (the method being constitutive of the project), we were fed paper after paper for close analysis and digestion. Albee and I concluded, after the first day’s work, that the project’s function was to call bullshit on purportedly positively impactful AI projects – a purpose which we designated as ‘important and cool’ [sic].
As Laidlaw Scholars, we are deeply unsettled by the prospect of serving no purpose in a work environment. There is so much waste in this world, too much waste. We mustn’t become it. That is to say: having been awarded a genuinely dream-granting opportunity of an overseas-research grant, we are anxious to put it to good use. As the token native English speakers of the office, we were asked to provide grammatical services, checking over new drafts of papers. We have also been floated the idea of coding interview transcripts, for analysis by the senior members of the team – a project which will take at least two weeks. Whilst both of these tasks excite us, we await a good discussion with the team lead – busy at a conference this week – where we can unpack the framework the team have constructed. Perhaps a review of the motivation behind the composition of this framework will be a meaningful contribution we could make to their project, but this idea remains a seedling. I look forward to focusing next week on staying collaborative, intentional, and transcendent.
Beyond the work, we have been enjoying the expansive and uncanny landscape of Berlin. Films have been watched. Meals have been eaten (mainly cheese and bread from supermarkets), and more recently, cooked (upon moving into the flat). Drinks have been drunk (responsibly). After less than one week, I can confidently and unashamedly say I would spend my entire life here, even if it meant the loss of all that is dear to me (apart from Albee).
Carl Rogers once said – ‘The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.’
He has clearly never been to Berlin.