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Research for the digital society

Global, interdisciplinary, in dialogue

The institute's DNA

News from the institute

Press

The main problem is a lack of responsibility

Theresa Züger contextualises the call by several tech CEOs for a pause in AI development and argues why it is not speed that causes harm.

Press

What Anthropic’s Amodei could do about AI overkill

In the FAZ, Matthias C. Kettemann compares Dario Amodei’s call for an emergency stop with the UN Secretary-General’s report on global AI inequality.

Publication

A Question of Context

According to a new HIIG whitepaper, how companies introduce generative AI and employees use it depends not on the technology itself, but on the professional field.

Open Call

Founders, what has to change?

What’s slowing startups down in Germany? And how can it be fixed? We want to hear from founders where the friction is and what should be redesigned. We are collecting answers until 10 October.

Press

What Meta’s billion-euro settlement means for young people and parents

Matthias C. Kettemann analyses on web.de which changes to strengthen youth protection the tech giant has agreed to (in German).

Press

Independence through openness

In a guest article for Tagesspiegel Background, our researcher Judith Faßbender, together with Ben Burmeister, calls for open source to be used strategically by the state (in German).

Upcoming events

Further events

  • Sep
    24
    Webinar: Generative KI in Kommunikation und Marketing
    9:00 - 9:45 | Online
  • Sep
    29
    Spotlight: Generative KI in der Arbeitswelt
    13:00 - 14:00 | Online
  • Sep
    30
    Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst: Personalisierung im Internet verständlich erklären
    17:00 - 18:30 | Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society

    • Discussion dossiers

    Digitalisation and sustainability

    How can technology be used responsibly, taking into account social, economic and ecological dimensions?

    Platform governance

    How can commercial goals of corporations and societal values be reconciled on online platforms?

    The digital future of work

    How will digital organisation, digitalisation, and AI in the workplace transform the world of work?

    Data Governance

    How can the technical, organisational, and regulatory mechanisms governing data sharing and use be shaped in the public interest?

    Artificial intelligence and society

    How can we better understand the complex and reciprocal relationship between AI systems and social processes?

    KAPAZ- Material Collection

    Tackling hostility towards science

    What can be done when research comes under pressure? This resource collection supports researchers and institutions with strategies and tools for responding to hostile attacks.

    KI-Kompas

    AI compass

    AI is embedded across many areas of society, from medicine to nature conservation. Our card game presents concrete applications and invites players to critically examine their uses and implications.

    Data Governance Wegweiser - Digital Governance Lab

    Data governance guide

    Why does the potential of municipal data so often go unrealised? This handbook supports public administrations in planning and implementing data-driven projects in legally sound ways.

    DIGITAL SOCIETY BLOG

    Further articles

    Three human silhouettes are depicted mid-stride, each comprising of a collage of hardware used to develop AI including circuit boards and CPU chips. In the background there is a black and grey gradient with smoke. Beneath the runners from the left, there are two rectangle panels which run across the image, one is red and the other is blue.
    17. September 2026 · A. Dumat, G. v. Richthofen, S. Bohn

    Brave new world of work? Narratives on AI and the future of work

    A comparison between German and US-American public discourse shows how different narratives on AI shape the future of work.

    The photo shows the entrance area of an event: while people wait and an older man speaks at a standing lectern in an open space symbolising democracy without borders.
    31. August 2026 · Matthias C. Kettemann, Karina Preiss

    Democracy without borders? Global citizenship between platform power, AI and the crisis of knowledge

    A look back and ahead at ten years of constitutional thinking across state borders.

    Playing cards on a table with a hidden ace, representing the high-stakes game of platform regulation under the Digital Services Act.
    5. August 2026 · Daniel Pothmann

    Cards on the table: Making sense of the Digital Services Act

    This article revisits the origins and core mechanisms of the Digital Services Act and asks what lessons they hold for the upcoming review process.