“Progress requires wisdom and courage – machines lack both.”

I knew I wasn’t about to embark on light summer reading and expected a rather dry subject. Right once, wrong once!

From the very beginning, the book captivated me and challenged me to pause and reflect on my own experiences. So it’s definitely not a book to read in one sitting, and I wouldn’t recommend doing so either!

What’s it about? The possibilities offered by digitalization, AI, etc. must stand the test of human value systems. It is up to us to lead a good life in a digitalized world! “Jo eh”, as an Austrian would say.

Sarah Spiekermann describes in a vivid and very personal way how profound this topic is, both from an individual and societal perspective.

She is not opposed to digitalization or artificial intelligence, quite the contrary! But her book is an urgent appeal for us humans to engage deeply with the questions of why and for what purposes we use the achievements of the digital world. Her aim is to truly improve our lives and to achieve valuable progress. And she convincingly shows that some of today’s developments actually represent setbacks when it comes to our quality of life and societal trends. From my perspective, she raises key questions, such as: “Are we losing the ability to acquire knowledge and develop opinions?”, “Do we allow algorithms to decide which information is important for us?”, “Do we really believe that AI makes for better humans?”, “Should all developments serve the sole purpose of profit maximization?”

She invites us to sharpen our own moral compass. If elements such as community, solidarity, health, well-being, and satisfaction become central, then we will succeed in using technological and digital developments precisely for that purpose. However, this also means that not everything “new” is automatically “good,” and that we must learn “the art of deliberate omission”!

I value Sarah Spiekermann’s approach because it challenges me, enriches me, and above all doesn’t offer simplistic “well, obviously” solutions!

To all who want to enter into a philosophical discourse on “artificial intelligence” even if it’s “just” through self-reflection, I can warmly recommend Digital Ethics!