In the course of the debate on digitalisation and AI, there is often talk of the need to address the challenges they pose from an ethical perspective – because it is a question of what is unique to humans, or because, as some say, humanity is under threat. This book is concerned with deciphering to what extent the ethicalisation of AI is a symptom of social change. It discusses the digital revolution in parallel with the media revolution of printing. Printing was also ethified – Luther and Faust stand as antagonists for this. And the ethification of printing played a significant role in the emergence of the modern social order, as well as in some crucial self-misunderstandings of the modern age, especially with regard to its supposed humanity. Today, however, the digital world and especially AI are once again associated with promises that are advocated with almost Lutherian vehemence, and today, too, the risks of the new media are being played with diabolically on the other side. Dataism suggests a point of view that considers the modern social order – functional differentiation with Luhmann’s term – to be inefficient and corrupt. The relevance of this position for social development must be assessed as accurately as possible.
