What does a good future with AI look like? A narrative of progress

How can Germany use artificial intelligence in business, education, the healthcare sector, government and administration in such a way that it is actually useful?

Will Germany use artificial intelligence in business and education, the healthcare sector and government and administration in such a way that it is actually useful? What would a good future with AI look like in 2030? And what course must be set today, by whom and how, so that the target vision can largely become a reality? This impulse paper sets out to find answers to these three questions.

To put it kindly, expectations of the future benefits of AI applications in Germany are very low. This is confirmed by the data from the exclusive survey conducted by Civey, for which the institute interviewed 5,000 people on behalf of Das Progressive Zentrum. According to the survey, only 23% of Germans currently believe that artificial intelligence will improve their lives. There are various reasons for this. One thing is clear: too much pessimism is not the way to shape progress – neither technically nor socially.

With his impulse paper “What does a good future with AI look like? A progress narrative”, AI expert Thomas Ramge wants to deliberately counter the scepticism in the political AI debate with a progress-oriented emphasis: a vision that substantiates the potential of the technology and shows what benefits it can have in business, administration, education, health, science and civil society and how it can ultimately make our lives better. The search for a better future is always a task for the present. 

The third part of this paper asks for the how? Generally, the proposed solutions for the digital transformation with more AI sound coherent. But when it comes to implementation, they all too often fail due to the normative power of analogue facts. Of course, this paper cannot present any patent remedies for how AI systems can overcome Germany’s digital inertia overnight. This is why it also differs in form from the usual policy papers. There are already many such papers on AI – and especially many that highlight the risks associated with AI.

The impulse paper “What does a good future with AI look like?” deliberately aims to use the creative possibilities of scenario techniques to set a different tone in the political AI debate – and to generate a desire for a good future with artificial intelligence that improves the lives of as many people as possible in all areas of life in the spirit of a progressive agenda. The aim: To stimulate a conversation about what the next concrete steps towards this future are. Much has already been tried. Many things have failed. But the conclusion cannot be: “Then let’s give up on AI”. The technology has too much potential to advance the economy and society, science and the state – and ultimately make our lives better.

The concrete idea of a better future with AI

In his presentation at the Progressive Governance Summit 2024 in Berlin, Thomas Ramge explains why it is socio-politically relevant to have a constructive discussion about the use of AI.

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Author

Thomas Ramge thinks and writes at the intersection of technology, economics and society. He has published 20 non-fiction books that have been translated into more than 20 languages, including Mensch und Maschine, Sprunginnovation (with Rafael Laguna de la Vera) and Das Digital (with Viktor Mayer-Schönberger). His essays and reports have appeared in Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, The Economist and Foreign Affairs, as well as FAZ, Die Zeit and Welt am Sonntag.

Project lead

Florian Ranft

Member of the Management Board and Head of Green New Deal

Project team

Sebastian Pieper

Project Manager

Jonah Schwope

Project Assistant

Press contact

Maria Menzel-Meyer

Head of Communications

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