Digital Politics

EventMore digital literacy for Europe in times of generative AI

How well prepared is Europe for generative AI and an increasingly digitalised society? What about the digital competence of the population? These questions were at the centre of the bidt event in cooperation with the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU.

Desire for regulation depends on AI knowledge

The desire for regulation is strongly influenced by knowledge about generative AI and less by actual use. This is shown by a special analysis by the bidt Think Tank. 55% of critical users and 66% of critical non-users of generative AI express a desire for stronger regulation. “Critical knowledge” refers to the awareness that some results of generative AI can be factually incorrect.

60 %

60 percent of Germans see deepfakes as a threat to democracy. This was revealed by a Bitkom study that analysed the awareness of deepfakes and attitudes towards them. Almost half of those surveyed (44 percent) state that they have already been taken in by a deepfake. Overall, 70 precent of respondents are suspicious of photos and videos, with 63 percent stating that deepfakes scare them.

GlossaryDigital inequality

Even though large sections of the population now have digital competences and basic skills in the use of digital technologies, the problem of digital inequality remains unresolved. Digital inequality means that people with a higher status benefit more from the availability of digital technologies. Advancing digitalisation is therefore associated with growing rather than shrinking social inequalities.