GEGEN DEN STROM: KI-Social Media und Du

Tuesday, September 1, 2026
7:00 PM, Balmoral Castle - Bad Ems, Villenpromenade 11

The Golden Twenties were a time of radical acceleration: new media such as radio, film, and mass press changed thinking, perception, and everyday life.
Technological progress was celebrated as a promise – yet concern grew about how much people could be shaped and directed by new forms of communication, consumer worlds, and social dynamics. Even then, a central question emerged: Who defines our thinking and feeling, and who determines our image of reality? But also, how can a person remain free amidst these upheavals?

Today we are experiencing a similar threshold – only on a larger scale. Artificial intelligence is changing the world at a speed that challenges ethics, law, and the art of living. It not only solves tasks but increasingly shapes thinking, feeling, and perception. Algorithms influence our attention, our relationships, and our notions of what is “normal” or “important” – especially in social media.

Starting from his book “Remaining Human in the Age of AI”, Eduard Zwierlein discusses the opportunities and risks of the digital present. Central questions revolve around friendship, digital dependency, and self-determination: What happens to relationships when closeness is communicated digitally, attention is economically utilized, and behavior is algorithmically controlled? Where does manipulation begin – and where does our freedom end?

The evening invites us to view AI not only as a technical innovation but as a question of what it means to be human.
Eduard Zwierlein studied philosophy, psychology, and theology in Hamburg, earned his doctorate there on Paul Ludwig Landsberg, and habilitated in Koblenz on Pascal, Descartes, and Nietzsche, where he is an associate professor. In addition to his academic career, he founded his own consulting firm in 1990 and published a novel in 2005 (“The Hidden Book”). In 2024, his biography on Blaise Pascal, “Heart and Reason – Life and Thought,” was published by Karl Alber Verlag.

The venue is accessible.
Admission is free.
Registration at: denkbares@online.de
Cooperation with DENKBARES – www.denkbares.org