Futurologist at the Austrian Institute of Technology
Co-founder of the Berlin Ethics Lab at the TU Berlin
Jury member of the Science-Fiction Filmfestival Berlin
lecturer / creative / projecteer / speaker / author / consultant
Wenzel Mehnert is a futurologist specializing in the study of sociotechnical imaginaries and the ethical dimensions of emerging technologies. At the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), he develops experimental methods at the intersection of foresight, speculative fiction, and technology assessment. His work focuses on how narratives—ranging from science fiction to policy visions—shape our understanding of technologies like artificial intelligence, neurotechnology, quantum computing, and synthetic biology.
He co-founded the Berlin Ethics Lab at the Technical University of Berlin and has taught at the Berlin University of the Arts, where he explored speculative fiction, design fiction, and worldbuilding as tools for critical future studies. His research combines qualitative methods with creative practices to reflect on present futures and their cultural origins. He is a jury member of the Science-Fiction Filmfestival Berlin and regularly speaks at international conferences on topics such as ethical foresight, participatory visioning, and the role of fiction in technology governance.
Zukunfts-Schreib-Werkstatt – Worldbuilding as a participatory method to envision the future of Salzburg
University Graz, Graz, Austria, 09/05/25
Fictional Technofutures of Merging Minds with Machines
STS Graz, Graz, Austria, 06/05/25
Re-Engineering Human Nature – Zukunftsdialog über Neurotechnologien at the Ars Electronica Center
Linz, Austria, 26/04/25
Quantum Technology Vision – An example of a „Boring Future"
ResQT 2025, Karlsruhe, Germany, 07/04/25
Schöne Neue Körper – Geschichte der transhumanistischen Utopie
Presentation of an article in the SWS Rundschau, Vienna, Austria, 12/03/25
Visions of Quantum Technology – participatory stakeholder workshop on the future of QT in collaboration with ITAS
Karlsruhe, Germany, 27 & 28/01/25
Science Fiction, Fact & Forecast – Workshop at University of Applied Arts Vienna
Vienna, Austria, 22/01/25
Re-Engineering Human Nature – Zukunftsdialog über Neurotechnologien
Event Website, Stadtkino Wien, Österreich, 04/12/24
Prediction or imagination? Comparing science fiction and futurology
Science+Fiction Filmfestival, Trieste, Italy 30/10/24
Andere Zukünfte denkbar machen – Keynote
kulturBdigital-Konferenz 2024, Berlin, Germany, 10/10/24
The Futures Circle – a framework to critically assess technofutures
Anticipation Conference, Lancaster, England, 13/09/24
The Futures Circle – a framework to critically assess technofutures
EASST42 Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands 17/07/24
Envisioning ethics – what does it mean to integrate ethical reflection into the early phases of technology development?
EASST42 Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands 16/07/24
Futures Circle – Ansatz zur Dekonstruktion von Technikzukünften
Netzwerk für kritische Zukunftsforschung, Online, Germany 17/06/24
Video Recording (german) | Paper
Kreative Methoden in der Politikberatung (with Aaron Rose & Max Priebe)
Wissen für die Politik Workshop, ITAS @ KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany 13/06/24
Creative Methods for Foresight – Activating the rigorous imagination for anticipatory policy? (with Aaron Rose & Max Priebe)
EUSpri, University of Twente, Netherlands 05/06/24
Futures Circle – Ansatz zur Dekonstruktion von Technikzukünften
TA24, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, Austria 04/06/24
Integrating Ethics in Quantum Technologies? What's to learn? (with Nele Fischer, Juliane Rettschlag & Sabine Ammon)
Responsible Quantum Technologies workshop @ ITAS, Karlsruhe, Germany 16/04/24
Partizipative und transdisziplinäre Forschung in Innovationsökosystemen- Fallstudie zum High-Tech-Innovationsprojekt NeuroSys (with Mareike Smolka, Philipp Neudert, Frieder Bögner & Stefan Böschen)
PartWiss 2023, Chemnitz, Germany 22/11/23
From Fiction to Futures
Cross Innovation Hub, Hamburg, Germany 12/10/23
Die Zukunft im Blick: Visionen einer technologisierten Gesellschaft
Digital Art Lab, Berlin, Germany 14/09/23
Speculative Futures: The TechEthos Game (with Michael Bernstein)
Speculative Futures Berlin, Berlin, Germany 13/09/23
Pleasure Seeker Time Travel Talk: Exploring Love, Sex, Toys and Features in Future Motions (with Claudia Virginia Dimoiu)
ARS Elektronica, Linz, Austria 09/09/23
Zukunfts-Schreib-Werkstatt - Worldbuilding as a participatory method to envision the future of Salzburg
Disruptive Imaginations, Dresden, Germany 19/08/23
Beyond the Bad Actors - A reflection on prominent ethical issues in the context of Quantum Technologies (with Peter Remmers)
Responsible Quantum Technologies workshop @ ITAS, Karlsruhe, Germany 27/07/23
The Futures of Emerging Technologies - Exploring ethical and social challenges through Visioneering
QAI Ventures, Basel, Switzerland 12/07/23
Neugefragt - Zukunftsnarrationen weitergedacht (with Katrina Günther)
Festival der Zukunft, München, Germany 07/07/23
Futures of Foresight (with Attila Havas)
EUSpri 2023, Sussex, UK 15/06/23
TechEthos - Eliciting Values & Attitudes through a scenario-based research approach (with Eva Buchinger, Michael J. Bernstein & Masafumi Nishi)
SPT 2023, Tokyo, Japan 10/06/23
Envisioning Ethics – How to foster ethical reflections on futures to design responsible technologies (with Nele Fischer)
Ethical Commerce Alliance, online, 24/05/23
Transhumanistische Metaphern in der SF -Was will uns das Neurointerface eigentlich sagen?
Metropolcon 2023, Berlin, Germany 20/05/23
Science Fiction und Zukunftsforschung - Kann die SF irgendetwas voraussagen? (with Klaudia Seibel, Isabella Hermann & Karlheinz Steinmüller)
Metropolcon 2023, Berlin, Germany 18/05/23
Science Art Film - a talk on the movie Akira
National Film and Sound Archive Australia, Canberra, Australia 27/04/23
Making values work for technological innovation - A roundtable dicussion (with Clara Boissenin, Anna Aris & Greta Alliaj)
PCST 2023, Rotterdam, Netherlands 14/04/23
The TechEthos Game – A serious game to generate societal values towards emerging technologies (with Greta Alliaj & Lena Söderström)
PCST 2023, Rotterdam, Netherlands 12/04/23
Geschichten über Salzburgs Morgen - Zukunftsvisionen von Bürger:innen für die Stadt Salzburg
Robert-Jungk-Bibliothek für Zukunftsfragen, Salzburg, Österreich 03/04/23
Integrating Ethics - A four hour panel moderation on the practice of ethical reflection (with Nele Fischer & Sabine Ammon)
STS-Hub, Aachen, Germany 17/03/23
Spinning in circles – structuring the circulation of techno cultural imaginaries
STS-Hub, Aachen, Germany 16/03/23
Implication Fan - An epistemic tool to assist ethical reflection within development processes (with Tim Hildebrandt)
Fachtagung Cluster Integrierte Forschung, Mannheim, Germany 28/02/23
Envisioning Ethics - How to foster ethical reflections on futures to design responsible technologies (with Nele Fischer)
Anticipation Conference, Arizona State University, USA
Integrated ethics: Towards a transdisciplinary toolbox for research and development processes of socially disruptive technologies (with Sabine Ammon, Nele Fischer & Tim Hildebrandt)
ESDIT2022 International Conference, Leiden, Holland
K.I.-Kunst: Muse, Melkkuh oder Marketing-Gag? (with Dana Wasserbacher & Masafumi Nishi)
NTA10 «Kultur und Digitalisierung», Bern, Switzerland
„Sound Of Contagion“. An artistic research project exploring A.I. as a creative tool for storytelling (with Robert Laidlow)
Artificial Intelligence – Intelligent Art?, TU Braunschwig, Germany
Neugefragt – A speculation based art project on emerging futures (with Futuresprobes & Bernd Hopfengärtner)
Fraunhofer ISI, Berlin Science Week, Berlin Germany
FUTUREBODY – The Future of the Body in the Light of Neurotechnology
Futurebody Gathering, TU Berlin, Germany
My copy and me – Imaginäre des Minduploads
Tagung "'Philosophie dürfte man eigentlich nur dichten‘ – Ethik und Literatur”, TU & HU Berlin, Germany
The Imaginaries of Merging Minds and Machines
EASST 2022 – Politics of technoscienfitic futures, Madrid, Spain
Re-Imagined Aftermath – Reflecting on post-apocalyptic imaginaries in Science-Fiction-Film
Worlds ending - Ending worlds, Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies (CAPAS), Heidelberg University, Germany
Zukunftswelten
RWTH Aachen, Germany
The Road - reflection on the postapocalypse
Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies (CAPAS), Heidelberg University, Germany
bio:fictions – Ko-kreative Design Fictions der Bioökonomie (with Ellery Studio and IZT)
Speculative Futures Berlin, Germany
Sound of Contagion – an artistic research project with the UdK Berlin and the University of Oxford (click here for info).
University of Oxford, UK
Solutionism, Tech Fixes & Ethical Tech – a panel discussion
Anti-Dystopian Congress, Goethe-Institut Krakow, Poland
The Imaginaries of Merging Mind and Machine
World Future Studies Conference, Berlin, Germany
Future follows Fiction - On the end of the world as we know it
Science Meets Fiction Festival, Salzburg, Austria
Tactical Science-Fiction - die Zukunft schreiben
Fabrikanten der Wirklichkeit, Kunstverein Hannover, Germany
Rethinking Futures (with Nele Fischer)
Futures Conference, Turku, Finland
Imaginary Studies – Imaginationsforschung im Kontext von TA
Societal Futures, AIT, Vienna, Austria
Technodystopian Imaginaries in Cyberpunk worlds
Visions and Narratives of AI, TU-Berlin & Cambridge University
A.I. against Extinction II
re:publica, Berlin
Prototyping Sociotechnical Systems (with Nele Fischer)
Cybioses symposium, Berlin
What desert smells like? An exercise in speculative Worldbuilding.
Hybrid Talks XXXIX – “Speculation”, Berlin
Worldbuilding & Speculative Fiction
Speculative Futures Berlin, Germany
Curating Emerging Futures
Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany
Digital ist man weniger allein?
Digitaler Salon, HIIG, Berlin, Germany
Nano Visionen (mit Christopher Coenen)
TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
A.I. against Extinction I (with Bernd Hopfengärner)
Schwarzmarkt für nützliches Wissen und Nicht-Wissen, Dresden, Germany
Speculative Performances
Future Slam, FU-Berlin
A Plea for Speculative Thinking
Solarpunk Festival, Berlin, Germany.
Speculative Foresight
Mastercourse Future Studies, FU-Berlin, Germany
Objects of Uncertainty – A speculative exploration of the Internet of Things
Drone Dancing Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
Business Science-Fictionalized (with Joachim Haupt)
Re:Publica, Berlin, Germany
Vermaas, P., Ammon, S., & Mehnert, W. (2024). Toward a code of conduct for technology ethics practitioners. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2024.2440958
Mehnert, W., & Grunwald, A. (2024). Hermeneutic Technology Assessment. In Grunwald, A. Handbook of Technology Assessment (pp. 281–90). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.
Mehnert, W. (2024). Schöne Neue Körper – Geschichte der transhumanistischen Utopie. SWS Rundschau, 3, 248–265.
Mehnert, W., Laidlow, R., Haith, C., & Sara Laubscher. (2024). Sound of Contagion – An Artistic Research Project Exploring A.I. as a Creative Tool for Transmedial Storytelling. In E. Voigts, R. M. Auer, D. Elflein, S. Kunas, J. Röhnert, & C. Seelinger (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence—Intelligent Art? - Human-Machine Interaction and Creative Practice (pp. 97–110). transcript Verlag.
Mehnert, W. (2024). The Futures Circle — A Framework for Hermeneutic Technology Assessment. Journal of Technology and Language, Special Issue on Hermeneutics of Technology, 14(1), 129–151.
Mehnert, W. (2023). Wording Worlds – From writing Futures to building Imaginary Worlds. Journal of Technology and Language, Special Issue on Future Writing, 3 (12), Art. 7.
Mehnert, W. (2023). „The future is going to be weird.“ Zur Ästhetik kommodifizierter Mind-Upload-Visionen. In M. Tamborini (Hrsg.), Die Ästhetik der Technowissenschaften des 21. Jahrhunderts (1. Aufl., S. 177 - 200). wbg Verlag.
Buchinger E, Mehnert W, Csabi A, Nishi M, Bernstein MJ, Gonzales G, Porcari A, Grinbaum A, Adomaitis L, Lenzi D, Rainey S, Umbrello S, Vermaas P, Paca C, Alliaj G, Whittington-Davis A (2023). D3.1 Evolution of advanced TechEthos scenarios. TechEthos Project Deliverable to the European Commission. Available at: www.techethos.eu
Wiesmüller, S., Fischer, N., Mehnert, W., & Ammon, S. (2023). Responsible AI Adoption Through Private-Sector Governance. In R. Schmidpeter & R. (Hrsg.), Altenburger Responsible Artificial Intelligence: Challenges for Sustainable Management, CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance (1. Aufl., S. 111 - 132). Springer International Publishing.
Vögler, D., Mehnert, W., Zwiers, J., Behrendt, S., & Ricken, A. (2022). Bio:fictions – Design Fiction als transdisziplinärer Ansatz der partizipativen Zukunftsgestaltung einer nachhaltigen Bioökonomie. In J.-L. Reinermann, J.-H. Kamlage, N. de Vries, U. Goerke, B. Oertel, & S. D. Schrey (Hrsg.), Zukünfte nachhaltiger Bioökonomie: Kommunikation und Partizipation in neuen Wirtschaftsformen (1. Aufl., S. 185–200). transcript.
Mehnert, W. (2022). Zwischen Körper und Geist — Transhumanistische Metapher in der Science-Fiction. In S. Käppele, J. Kirschbauer, L. C. Recksiek, M. C. R. Lora, J. Schütt, & V. Vasileuski (Hrsg.), Körpern. Logos Berlin.
Mehnert, W. (2022). Solarpunk – Technik-Utopien der Gegenwart. Zeitschrift für Fantastikforschung, 9(1), Art. 1.
Mehnert, W. (2021). Solarpunk oder wie SF die Welt retten will. In H. Kettlitz & M. Wylutzki (Hrsg.), Das Science Fiction Jahr 2021. Hirnkost KG.
Mehnert, W. (2021). De-Constructing Cyberpunk Worlds. In C. Ernst & J. Schröter (Hrsg.), (Re-)Imagining New Media: Techno-Imaginaries around 2000 and the case of „Piazza virtuale“ (1992). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Fischer, N., & Mehnert, W. (2021). Building possible worlds. A speculation based research framework To reflect on images of the future. Journal of Futures Studies, March.(25(3)), 25–38.
Mehnert, W. (2019). The Future is Near: Schnittstellen einer negativen Zukunft. In K. D. Haensch, L. Nelke, & M. Planitzer (Hrsg.), Unheimliche Schnittstellen / Uncanny Interfaces. Textem Verlag Hamburg. textem Verlag.
Haupt, J., & Mehnert, W. (2017). Business Model Futures. In M. Heidingsfelder, S. Kaiser, K. Kimpel, & M. Schraudner (Hrsg.), Shaping Future. Frauenhofer Verlag.
Ethics Toolbox (2024) (with Nele Fischer)
Topic: Envisiong ethics, ethical reflection, workshop material
A collection of epistemic tools and reflection formats to integrate ethics into the development process of emerging technologies.
Futures Garden (2023)
Topic: Creative Methods, Foresight, Participation
At Futures Garden, we embark on a visionary journey to redefine policy-making for Europe's future. Our mission? To revolutionize policy creation by intertwining speculative design with creativity, empathy, and analytical insight.
TechEthos - The Game (2022 - 2023)
Topic: Neurotechnology, Climate Engineering and Extended Reality
Format: A Cardgame
As a citizen engagement activity, the card game serves as an impulse to discuss about values, attitudes and awareness of emerging technologies.
Future-Storytelling-Workshops (2022)
Topic: The future of Salzburg
Format: Short stories
As a citizen engagement activity and in cooperation with the Robert-Jungk-Library for future questions, six workshops were conducted with citizens from the city of Salzburg. In these workshops, the participants explored their preferable future and wrote short stories about changes, hopes and fears.
Brücken (2022)
Topic: Aging cities
Format: An illustrated history book from the year 2060
A five days worldbuilding seminar at the FH Salzburg resulted in a chronology of the future of the city, reflecting on the rising inequality within society and a growing conflict between generations.
Neugefragt (2022)
Topic: Digitalisation
Format: Comics, Audio stories, Lecture Performance
In cooperation with the Frauenhofer ISI we collected question from an interested audience about digitalisation and AI. Those question were explored and answered in the form of fictional narratives. The result were comics and audio stories that were presented as a lecture performance.
Bio:Fictions (2021)
Topic: Bioeconomy
Format: Instagram Stories
Following interviews with experts we developed three scenarios that depicted preferable bioeconomical futures. These scenarios were condensed to short 30sec Instagram videos, focussing on ethical dilemmas and spread in cooperation with Instagram-Influencers.
Sound of Contagion (2020 - 2022)
Topic: Using AI as a creative tool for Storytelling
Format: Multimedia Lecture Performance
In cooperation with the University of Oxford and University of the Arts we conducted an artistic research project to explore the use of AI as a creative tool for storytelling. The result was a nested narrative experienced through reading, illustrations and music compositions.
AI against Extinction (2019)
Topic: Climate Change and Technology
Format: Lecture Performance
As journalists from the year 2060 we discover the history of the world simulation foundation, an organization that used AI to archive dying ecosystems. The projects critically points at the believe in techsolutionism and the ongoing climate carastrophe.
Doing Design Fiction (2019)
Topic: Worldbuilding and Storytelling
Format: Course at the UdK Berlin
Result were ten short films, each seven minutes long.
Starting with an emerging technology, the students reflected on social impacts and shot short films that gave an insight into possible futures.
What Desert Smells Like (2019)
Topic: Images of the Future
Format: Storyworld and short stories
Result of a class with students at the UdK Berlin and the TU Berlin.
Based on a worldbuilding exercise, the project developed 9 short stories that reflect on the impact of emerging technologies under the conditions of climate change.
Download
Let Nature Rule (2018) developed by NORMALS
Topic: Exploring solutions and impacts of automated environmental decision systems
Format: Fictional panel discussion
Digital technologies only offer ways to collect environmental data along global value chains and individual behaviour, they enable, through Artificial intelligence and machine learning, innovative approaches to environmental governance for public and private entities. But how much decision power should we lend the machine in order to retrieve a natural equilibrium?
Objects of Uncertainty (2018)
Topic: Internet of Things
Format: Speculative Design artefacts
Exhibited in Stockholm (collaboration with the Goethe Institute)
The project showcases five fictional artefacts and short stories about their sociotechnical impact. It raises questions about the uncertainty of smart objects, data security and privacy.