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Digital Society Blog

Making sense of our connected world

Hendrik Send, Martin Wrobel | 6. October 2026

AI startups made in Germany — Specialisation instead of computing power

What role do AI startups play in Germany’s position in the global AI race? This article draws on ten interviews to offer insight into their business models.

Three human silhouettes are depicted mid-stride, each comprising of a collage of hardware used to develop AI including circuit boards and CPU chips. In the background there is a black and grey gradient with smoke. Beneath the runners from the left, there are two rectangle panels which run across the image, one is red and the other is blue.
A. Dumat, G. v. Richthofen, S. Bohn | 17. September 2026

Brave new world of work? Narratives on AI and the future of work

A comparison between German and US-American public discourse shows how different narratives on AI shape the future of work.

The photo shows the entrance area of an event: while people wait and an older man speaks at a standing lectern in an open space symbolising democracy without borders.
Matthias C. Kettemann, Karina Preiss | 31. August 2026

Democracy without borders? Global citizenship between platform power, AI and the crisis of knowledge

A look back and ahead at ten years of constitutional thinking across state borders.

Rows of empty blue chairs in a plenary hall, symbolizing the question of whether AI can strengthen democracy.
S. Youssef, T. Züger, L. Winter | 13. July 2026

Can AI strengthen democracy? A data collection on AI projects aiming to serve democratic processes

This article introduces a dataset of 98 AI projects claiming to serve democracy, built to help researchers test these claims.

A traffic light sign in the forest symbolises the assessment of the interplay between climate change and AI.
Laura State | 5. May 2026

AI between climate change and climate protection

How do climate change and artificial intelligence interact? How AI can help in the fight against climate change?

A person climbing a steep rock face, symbolising the effort AI observatories make to scrutinise and challenge the structures of algorithmic power.
Paola Cantarini Guerra | 10. April 2026

Algorithms under scrunity: AI observatories as democratic infrastructure

Algorithms have a profound impact on people’s lives. This article explores why AI observatories are essential for democratic governance.

A volcanic eruption resembling an explosion, used to illustrate the metaphor of AI as a destructive "killing machine".
Matthias C. Kettemann, Frederik Efferenn | 18. March 2026

Forget the “killing machine”: why AI is a question of responsibility, not apocalypse

The authors challenge the metaphor of artificial intelligence as a “killing machine” that will one day surpass its human creators.

Blurred red face on a dark background symbolizing how AI agents construct digital identity.
J. Nörz, M. Wiechert & W. Schulz | 11. March 2026

The bot that bit back: AI agents, defamation and the digital construction of identity

A real case of an AI agent publishing a smear piece raises new legal questions about responsibility and digital identity.

The photo pictures a basketball hoop, symbolising the Human in the Loop in automated credit lending.
Philipp Mahlow, Katharina Mosene | 8. December 2025

The Human in the Loop in automated credit lending – Human expertise for greater fairness

How fair is automated credit lending? Where is human expertise essential?

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Du siehst Eisenbahnschienen. Die vielen verschiedenen Abzweigungen symbolisieren die Entscheidungsmöglichkeiten von Künstlicher Intelligenz in der Gesellschaft. Manche gehen nach oben, unten, rechts. Manche enden auch in Sackgassen. Englisch: You see railway tracks. The many different branches symbolise the decision-making possibilities of artificial intelligence and society. Some go up, down, to the right. Some also end in dead ends.

Artificial intelligence and society

How can we better understand the complex and reciprocal relationship between AI systems and social processes?

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