FRIAS Reflections - Christoph Durt

"How the Digital Transformation Changes Our Orientation"

The digital transformation is entering a radically new phase. Upcoming digital technology such as Artificial Intelligence is increasingly designed to intelligently alter human experience and thought. Digital technology as basic as search engines does not only help us to find our way in the Internet but also nudges and re-orientates us. The possibilities to alter orientation and consequent behavior multiply with each part of the user’s experiential environment that can be digitally controlled. It is no wonder that Augmented Reality and the Metaverse are so attractive to some of the world’s largest corporations. The new possibilities of digital technology demand a clear answer to the question of how digital technology changes human orientation is crucial to better understand the future of the digital transformation.
Christoph Durt’s essay on this question recently won a major essay prize. He will present the main points of the essay and explain why the digital transformation changes human orientation in profound and often unexpected ways. The presentation will be followed by a reply by Prof. Walther Zimmerli and a discussion open to the public. After the event, there will be free refreshments and the possibility of further exchange on the terrace (if there is good weather), or inside at the FRIAS. Apart from the reception, the event will be hybrid.