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The career of alumnus Dr. Wolfgang König impressively demonstrates what social science can achieve: It does not train specialists, but people who understand how knowledge is created, how learning works and how to create orientation when framework conditions are constantly shifting. Today, Wolfgang König is a pioneer of AI didactics - offering teachers a common didactic thread for the use of artificial intelligence in teaching. He has developed two central models: the gray box model of chatbot didactics and the AI learning roadmap. He says: "The aim is not to understand the technology, but to embed its use in learning processes".

Wolfgang König has been working with artificial intelligence (AI), learning and training for several years now - and with the misunderstandings that regularly accompany new technologies. He shares his knowledge on , among other places. "Around 10,000 followers show me how great the demand is here." He works as an expert in digital vocational training at the Bildungswerk der Wirtschaft in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, develops concepts for learning with AI and reaches a large specialist audience with his contributions. It was not planned that this would one day be his professional focus.

His path began as a student in Landau - at what is now º£½ÇÖ±²¥. What particularly shaped him at his alma mater was less a single topic than an attitude: "As a humanities scholar, it became second nature to me to recognize complex patterns and translate them into something suitable for everyday use," he says. His doctoral supervisor Professor Ulrich Sarcinelli played a key role in this: "He was - and still is - a professional at reducing complexity." Not in the sense of simplification, but in the sense of structure. For him, this ability became a tool that can be used far beyond the university: a tool for making complex topics understandable without losing precision. "It's not about breaking something down," explains König, "but about making the structure recognizable - so that others know how to proceed."

Between research, the public and practice

Since the beginning of his Running track, Wolfgang König has been involved at the interface between academia and the public: he has worked on research projects on citizen participation and municipal and administrative reform in Rhineland-Palatinate, and has dealt with political communication and the question of how people perceive and understand political processes. Social media was not a fashionable add-on, but a field of research with social explosive power. "I was interested in how the public sphere works today," he says. This included studies on media use and the democratic competence of trainees, as well as research on TV duels during the German parliamentary election campaign. At the same time, he wrote as a freelance journalist - an experience that further sharpened his focus on comprehensibility: "If nobody understands what you mean, you have a problem. No matter how clever the thought is."

"For me, AI was a stroke of luck" - "Minimal on-board resources, huge reach"

When artificial intelligence suddenly became mainstream with ChatGPT, it wasn't a radical new beginning for König, but rather a logical continuation of his work. "For me, AI was a stroke of luck," he says. "Minimal on-board resources, huge reach." But above all: a technology that raises new questions about learning, knowledge and understanding. His approach is deliberately pragmatic: "AI can help - so it has to be used." He considers bans to be unhelpful. Instead, he advocates teaching how to use the technology. Learning by using, trying out and reflecting. Or, as he puts it himself: "Weighing the pig doesn't make it fat."

Two models for learning with AI

For König, it was clear from the outset that AI should not just be a technical topic. It must be structured didactically. To this end, he developed two central models: the gray box model of chatbot didactics and the AI learning roadmap. Both models are now an integral part of the Q* network and are used in vocational training.

The gray box model: Chatbots like ChatGPT often work like a "gray box": Their internal processes are difficult to see through. The "" developed by Wolfgang König offers teachers a framework for using this technology didactically without having to explain everything technically. The model combines macrodidactics - i.e. integration into the curriculum - with microdidactics, i.e. specific lesson planning, and supplements this with a chatbot-doing cycle. Learners ask questions, interpret answers and reflect on results. "The aim is not to understand the technology, but to embed its use in learning processes," says König.

A practical example: chatbots are used to simulate work instructions in a training course for warehouse logistics specialists. Trainees formulate questions, analyze the chatbot's answers and check them against real processes. The AI is therefore not just a tool, but a reflection partner that actively supports the learning process.

The AI learning roadmap: The starts even earlier. It structures the entire learning process right from the start and makes it transparent for both learners and teachers. It starts by clarifying the framework conditions, data protection issues, the understanding of roles and the specific learning context. This is followed by a joint definition of objectives: what is to be learned, what skills are the focus and what is the AI being used for? Only then does the actual work begin. The learners interact independently with the AI, formulate questions, check answers, reflect on interim results and develop their skills step by step. Finally, the results are documented, evaluated and discussed together. Reflection is not an afterthought, but an integral part of the learning process. "The learning roadmap makes AI learning comprehensible and plannable," explains König. "It's not about abstracting technology, but about making the learning process visible and controllable." In practice, this approach enables trainees to systematically develop their own questions without feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of AI.

Tools for navigating complex systems

Königs' work is less about enthusiasm for technology and more about a basic social science attitude: he is concerned with comprehensibility, structures and tools that can be provided to people to help them navigate complex systems. For him, the fact that this tool is now AI is not a break, but a consistent further development.

* Network Q is a joint project of the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW), the Bildungswerke der Wirtschaft and other educational institutions. It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ). It makes vocational trainees fit for the digital transformation. With further training, lectures and workshops. It strengthens digital skills for modern training processes and future-oriented dual training. Wolfgang König is part of the "Network Q 4.0" (). Since March 2026, he has also headed the "AI Competence" training network in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (co-financed by the European Union).