Today, we already live in an era of hyperconnectivity. The internet has become the dominant medium of communication for most people and machines around the world. It is a key tool for industries, organizations, and individuals. Digital transformation poses unexpected challenges for the traditional economy and creates new social, cultural, and economic patterns. Sharing platforms are changing entire industries, traditional business models are giving way to the streaming principle, and new technologies, above all artificial intelligence (AI), shape our living and working environments. Our world is becoming ever more connected and the scene of an omnipresent algorithm.

How will we live in 2050? Will we find ourselves in a "post-digital" era – a world where digital technologies are so ubiquitous that computers and machines are hardly noticeable anymore? In this special issue, we investigate, in cooperation with the Zukunftsinstitut, what this future might look like.

The greatest economic, social and political risks of the future can be summarized in three points: data monopolies, the manipulation of individuals, and abuse by governments. A common denominator is the “urge to monopolize”, a characteristic that drives the profiteers of a rampant, chaotic and glorified digitalism as well as authoritarian states and leaders. Artificial intelligence is used here as part of the product or process – for example, for products and services that continuously improve themselves with the help of AI and thus make it difficult for new players to enter the market.

More than ever, a connective economy therefore needs not only free competition but also order, standards and guidelines – if only to prevent the manipulation of citizens or consumers. In the future, we will delegate many decisions in our daily lives to digital assistants, who will shop for us, organize our trips, and suggest books, friends, and partners. Many people will embrace the perks of such patronizing nanny tech and will even be willing to spend money on it.

It is therefore becoming increasingly important to draw a clear line between technological support and machine-based disempowerment. A set of rules is needed to enforce the principle of neutrality and remove dangerous, manipulative, or criminal assistants. A democratic state that does not use AI to monitor and control its citizens is better able to do so than a digital dictatorship or unbridled digital capitalism.

• Transparently produced AI. Closed AI systems that act as black boxes are not trustworthy and harbour the risk of machine manipulation. Open standards must ensure the verifiability of algorithms and become a trademark of “AI made in Europe”. Innovations such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have shown that the development of transparent AI is possible and promotes competition.
• Reforming regulation: Building on European data policy, the issue of innovative promotion and regulation of the economy is becoming increasingly relevant. Open standards and incentives for sharing data play a crucial role. Instead of monopolistic platforms, Europe believes in an innovative and competitive ecosystem. Not only the owners of technologies should reap the rewards of technology but society as a whole.
• Rethinking education. A comprehensive understanding of Big Data in the sense of a reflective and mindful approach to the collection, processing and analysis of large, complex amounts of computer-generated data becomes a basic skill in the connective society, while the promotion of digital skills becomes a social task. AI competence begins as early as elementary school and becomes part of lifelong learning process. An education campaign “AI for everyone!” is needed to get as many citizens as possible interested in connectivity in an accessible way. Twenty percent of working hours are reserved for personal development and continuing education.
• Making society more just. To prevent the financial gains of this system from going only to those who own the technology, a broad debate about the future of work is needed. In the connective society, gainful employment will be fundamental for recognition and appreciation. In the future, creative, social, and strategic skills will count more than ever. To fearlessly try out new things is more than ever the key to success, just as embracing failure is increasingly becoming part of a new culture of learning. Machines can teach us how to learn: to continuously test and experiment, breaking new ground along the way. The more AI and machines take on certain activities, the greater the new freedom for social, democratic and civic engagement, for time with family and friends, and for creativity and education.
• Establishing ethical and legal guidelines. The need for information security makes data protection a central issue, for companies and individuals alike. Access to sensitive data is only granted if a sufficient level of trust is guaranteed. Trust and security as well as cultural and social aspects determine digital business models and the design of products and services. Internationally binding regulation of AI at the level of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization as well as a global ethics council for ethical AI standards, will ensure compliance with and adherence to general AI rules and principles by 2050. At the European and national level, an authority for AI guidelines will develop common standards for the use of algorithms.