Loewe, M., Ott, I.

Robotics/AI (RAI) and real-world labs (RWL) are often treated separately in public innovation policies, despite their interconnected nature. RAI focuses on specific technologies for societal benefit, while RWL addresses institutional and societal learning. This study examines how media reports on RAI and RWL, analyzing 3,800 German newspaper articles from 2016-2023 using Structural Topic Modeling. It reveals a shift in dominant topics from RAI to RWL, identifies bridge topics like philosophical and legal issues, and suggests indicators for identifying the interface between RAI and RWL. These findings can inform government experimental learning and smart regulation design.