No technology is inherently all good or all bad. It depends how we use it. AI helps some global players to increase their turnover. In the service of autocratic regimes, it could monitor entire societies. But it can also be used to control power and water supplies more efficiently. That’s why we should agree whom AI is supposed to benefit and how it can be regulated. 

A “human AI” that expands human intelligence for the good of our societies and the planet has the potential to make the world a better place. At present, however, certain groups in society are bearing the negative consequences of AI. Alexander von Humboldt Professor Aimée van Wynsberghe regards the way we handle AI as a social experiment. In Episode 9 of “AI and Us”, she is joined by AI experts Martin Butz and Tobias Matzner to consider the ethical, ecological and social issues that have to be borne in mind when dealing with AI. 

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time conducting research in Germany. The Foundation maintains a network of well over 30,000 Humboldtians from all disciplines in more than 140 countries worldwide – including 57 Nobel Laureates.

As part of the German government’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation can appoint a total of 30 Alexander von Humboldt Professors for Artificial Intelligence in the years up to 2024. These chairs are contributing to work being done to comprehensively investigate the opportunities AI offers for our future and to make use of them. They will also help strengthen Germany’s standing as an internationally attractive and influential location in this important field.