Digital Responsibility

InterviewAt what point will machines make decisions for us?

Julian Nida-Rümelin, Managing Director at the bidt and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Political Theory at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, explains why machines and algorithms can assist us in automated processes but are incapable of making independent decisions.

The digital divide in developing countries is widening: internet use in this region grew by 200 per cent between 2008 and 2018. However, this positive development has stagnated due to infrastructure factors such as slow or expensive internet access. In many countries, the cost of using mobile data has risen relative to income. As a result, new digital technologies often only benefit those who can already afford internet access.

200 %

Glossary Data protection

The concept of self-determination with regard to personal data, decided by the Federal Constitutional Court in a census ruling in 1983, is at the heart of data protection laws in Germany. Today, these laws are part of EU law, with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) being the first attempt at general regulation at the European level. The aim is to enable individuals to decide who receives or processes their data and protect them from the unlimited collection, storage, use and transfer of personal data.