Beyond the obvious: Reguliert ins Abseits

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to boost productivity, create new business models, and fundamentally transform companies. However, to capitalize on the opportunities of this new technological era, one must be open to change. This lesson is drawn from past economic upheavals - from the steam engine to information technology.

Societies that embraced the new and allowed its widespread adoption, despite short-term negative impacts on old businesses and jobs, reaped disproportionate benefits. This raises the question: are Germany and the EU prepared to provide the space for AI to flourish, or will the impulse to regulate and curb it prevail? Dr. Werner Plumpe, an emeritus professor of economic and social history at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (1999 – 2022), discusses the lessons from past technological revolutions for the AI revolution with Daniel Stelter.