While COVID vaccination campaigns are underway in all countries and restrictions are slowly being lifted, we should also pause and recognize how little we take for granted that these vaccines exist. With Moderna, BionTech/Pfizer, Johnson&Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Sinovac, … Continue reading Timeline of Vaccine Developments
Almost three years ago, on May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, and since then politicians and data protection experts in Europe have been patting each other on the back about how successful GDPR is … Continue reading The Chill Effect of the GDPR
I am saddened by a realization that may have something to do with my age, namely that I have gained the impression that cynicism is gaining the upper hand. This way of thinking, which reacts to the old and the … Continue reading Cynicism
Many visitors were skeptical. Instead of going inside, they stopped at the entrance and took a timid look into the shaft lit up with torches. Even the band playing inside could not entice them further. Only a few dared to … Continue reading The Opposite Of Expectations
Terminator! Frankenstein! Skynet! Ex Machina! Considering the interest and discussions about artificial intelligence (AI), one would like to think that humanity is on the verge of destruction. From enslavement to complete extinction, everything happens, but almost no consideration of the reasons why we develop AI at all and what we use it for.
Continue reading “How Frankenstein Is Always Exploited In Trying To Stir Up Technology Fears”
Richard David Precht would walk around the world completely naked if he were the perfect person. If one follows the arguments in his latest book “Artificial Intelligence and the Meaning of Life: An Essay“, then we don’t need technology in … Continue reading AI and The Simple World of Richard David Precht
Imagine the sight of the merchant and travel writer Jonas Hanway, who amused Londoners. After many years in Lisbon, Russia and Persia, he had brought back a novel piece of equipment after a stay in France. A ‘Parapluie’, which, in … Continue reading When It Rains Trash On The Umbrella
A few days ago, a friend posted one of these photos that I too am in the habit of taking: from a book table in a bookstore with her own freshly published non-fiction book between a series of other non-fiction … Continue reading Future Angst In One Image
Do we still remember this pandemic which, for the better part of 2020, paralyzed life and the economy worldwide for several months? This is what happens when you don’t have a vaccine for an infectious disease. What COVID-19 is to … Continue reading Of Vaccination Opponents And Men Of Honour
Just this week I had a delegation of German entrepreneurs visiting Silicon Valley, with whom I toured innovative local companies, met interesting people, but also took them to places where we encountered new technologies. So we drove to areas where a number of companies are testing self-propelled cars. We saw the Waymos, Nuros, Kodiaks, Zoox and GM Cruise up close and with fascination.
Continue reading “When The Natural Is More Dangerous Than The Artificial”