The open future and its enemies

Artificial intelligence is regarded as the driving force of progress. Yet it has long since become a challenge to democracy. In this FEPS book, Paul Nemitz, Matthias Pfeffer, and Jürgen Pfeffer view AI as a fundamental issue of power and democracy and analyse the conflict between algorithmic control and democratic self-determination.

The book starts with its central thesis: The future is open, and people shape it with their imagination, through public discourse and on the basis of plurality. Anyone who increasingly leaves decisions to automated systems and seeks to control the future through AI misunderstands the limits of this technology and risks freedom. But how can we succeed in preserving the open future and, with it, open society?

The authors argue that uncontrolled AI will erode our freedom, self-determination and democracy. That is why a robust democracy must not leave the future in the hands of the alliance between Big Tech and the far right. AI must be politically reined in and democratically shaped so that humanity retains its sovereignty. The book highlights the technical limitations of supposedly superior intelligence, debunks ideological promises of salvation and describes the concentration of power within the digital-economic complex. It also sets out concrete proposals for political action to secure a better future: smart regulation, consistent enforcement of European law, decentralisation and digital sovereignty.

On 17 April 2026, at the Global Progressive Mobilisation, the book will be launched in the context of the FEPS panel discussion on the minimum digital age between MEP Laura Ballarín, co-author Matthias Pfeffer, and EP Vice-President Katarina Barley. 

The German version of the book is available here.