Research

Explore over 500 articles on prevailing megatrends in tech, politics and society.

16

min

The quitters of open societies

What happens when we no longer play a common game

10

min

Is science to blame for post-truth politics?

How the left contributed to the deconstruction of truth

5

min

Perspectives on the post-truth era

The 'enshittification' of society

9

min

FreedomLab commemorates its 500th article with a retrospective of its publication history

11

min

The narratives struggling to define the impact of AI on the labor market

High expectations, disillusionment, and realism—the usual players in AI predictions are all present

11

min

Forget about the (human) parents

Meet the cyborgs

12

min

The enhanced human: stronger, better, happier

Why we might all become centaurs according to transhumanists

10

min

The deficient animal: artificial by nature

And why the idea of helpful AI agents might be a misleading, anthropocentric notion

9

min

Genuine writing in the digital age

An inconvenient effort worth pursuing

14

min

The AI chips race (part II)

Chips are at the heart of the generative AI Stack

5

min

Magic in metamodern times

To be(lieve) or not to be(lieve), that is the question

5

min

The European elections and the next five years

What themes will drive European political discourse?

11

min

We need to think about the constitution of the EU (part I)

And Luuk van Middelaar’s study of European discourses helps us structure the debate

12

min

We need to think about the constitution of the EU (part II)

And Luuk van Middelaar’s study of European spheres helps us structure the debate

19

min

Why we should embrace the void

The psychoanalysis of 'Love, Death & Robots'

8

min

The AI chips race (part I)

How AI chips will determine future geopolitical events

9

min

The internet is in need of a transition

What the internet can learn from ongoing transitions in energy, mobility and food

12

min

Is Open Source AI a sham?

Why leading AI companies are currently engaging in both 'openwashing' and 'closedwashing' practices

11

min

Post-growth: the dawn of a new era

What will the upcoming paradigm shift entail?

4

min

The weather is changing

What home insurance tells us about climate change

12

min

The artisan versus the engineer: masters of the universe

What kind of skills should we (not) cultivate for generative AI?

8

min

We are the products of technological mediation

What the metaphor of the 'medium' can teach us about AI

12

min

When images matter more than reality

A reflection on Vilém Flusser's philosophy of photography in the age of social media

13

min

The day the artificial became intelligent (is yet to come)

When we started to call intelligence a machine and the machine intelligent

5

min

Knit’s Island and the future of the metaverse

An immersive and fascinating documentary about life in a virtual world

10

min

The robots among us

About today’s master-slave dynamics with humanoids and chatbots

10

min

The age of the machine: emancipation or alienation of the human?

Understanding the role of machines in society

5

min

Short-sighted AI regulations miss the big picture

How can we ensure that AI is not only safe but also resonates with our broader norms and values?

14

min

Philosophical prompt engineering in an AI-driven world

Why philosophical questioning and the art of posing the right questions becomes more important because of generative AI

6

min

The enduring tool metaphor in AI discourse

About technology as a mere instrument to achieve human goals

A beginner's guide to the metaverse

Both praised and feared by many, the 'promises' of the metaverse are highly contentious. Sebastiaan Crul aims to separate the wheat from the chaff.

A cultural cluster bomb

What will be the lasting impact of the cancellation of Russia?

According to the IPCC, we are failing

The IPCC urges us to rethink our climate adaptation and mitigation plans. Can we still be on time to stop the climate from changing?

Dominating the first TikTok war

How the selfie-president and TikTok videos are helping Ukraine dominate social media

Who pays the price for a resilient economy?

Europe is trying to develop a resilient economy that is less reliant on others. Yet, are we willing to the pay the price for our independence?

How will the pandemic affect the future of edtech?

The pandemic has ensured the implementation of edtech in school systems. Will pedagogical or technological aspects be prioritized?

Resisting the green gold

Deconstructing my purchasing choices: why is it so hard to change behavior?

How the cyborg deconstructed the modern worldview

The evolution of the cyborg in science and popular culture

Religion and spirituality after the death of God

Secularism could lead to moral and spiritual nihilism that Nietzsche and Dostoevsky warn of. What are the socio-cultural consequences of this?

Can digital technology save humanity?

How the Digital Revolution will change the rules of the game