Talk with Prof. Dr. Klaus Mainzer

Abstract

Digital Sovereignty in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Human sovereignty is considered to be under threat due to recent developments in AI. But what is AI actually capable of? Where do its potentials and limitations lie – theoretically, practically, and ethically? In addition to epistemic and ethical boundaries, we are increasingly seeing limits related to the energy consumption of digital AI. How can sustainable AI be achieved? Regulation must not suppress the potential for innovation, as this would endanger Europe’s sovereignty in the global competition for AI leadership. Ultimately, AI must prove itself to be an instrument of responsible action.

Registration

The talk will take place on November 18, 2025, at 6 p.m. Please register at: office@c3s.uni-frankfurt.de

Bio

Klaus Mainzer studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy, and after earning his doctorate and habilitation in Münster, he became a Heisenberg Fellow. He has served as Professor for the Foundations of the Exact Sciences, Dean, and Vice Rector at the University of Konstanz; Chair of Philosophy and Philosophy of Science, Director of the Institute of Philosophy, and Founding Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Informatics at the University of Augsburg; and later as Chair of Philosophy and Philosophy of Science, Director of the Carl von Linde Academy, and Founding Director of the Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS) at the Technical University of Munich.

Since 2016, he has been a member of the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty at the Technical University of Munich, and since 2019, a Senior Professor and co-founder of the Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Center at the University of Tübingen. Since 2020, he has served as President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA), spokesperson for foundational issues at the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), and member of the Academy of Europe (Academia Europaea), among others. He is also a visiting professor and author of numerous internationally translated books, and a member of the Advisory Board of the BMBF Future Cluster NeuroSys AI.

His research focuses on mathematical foundations, complexity and computability theory, foundations of artificial intelligence, philosophy of science and technology, and the future of the scientific and technological world.

Books include (among others): Thinking in Complexity, Springer: Berlin 5.  erweiterte Aufl. 2007 (1. Aufl. 1994, chinesische, japanische, polnische, russische u.a. Übersetzung); Künstliche Intelligenz. Wann übernehmen die Maschinen? 2. Auflage Springer: Berlin 2019 (engl. und chinesische Übersetzung); Grenzen der Künstlichen Intelligenz – theoretisch, praktisch, ethisch(mit R. Kahle), Springer: Berlin 2022 (englische Übersetzung 2023); Philosophisches Handbuch Künstliche Intelligenz(Hrsg.), Springer: Wiesbaden 2024; Artificial Intelligence of Neuromorphic Systems. From Digital, Analogue, Quantum, and Brain-Orientated Computing to Hybrid AI, World Scientific Singapore 2024.