AI | WZB

Sibylle Bergemann

193

September 2026

When it comes to artificial intelligence, attitudes range from euphoria to sheer fear. We take a middle ground. The September issue of our quarterly magazine „WZB-Mitteilungen” explores the potential of the new technologies and how rules and standards are negotiated.

Analyses of AI’s use in the workplace and of educational disparities in access are presented alongside reflections on containment and control. Insights into the platform economy, medicine, and knowledge-based professions bring into sharp focus the question of how AI is changing our lives and the economy.

Doppelfoto von Christine Gerber und Ann-Kathrin Katzinski

WZB und Jana Schuessler

Between Insecurity and Self-Confidence

Christine Gerber and Ann-Kathrin Katzinski from the WZB Research Group on Globalization, Labor, and Production have taken a close look at five fields where generative AI is making inroads: journalism, programming, marketing, human resources management, and administration. In an interview with Gabriele Kammerer, they discuss how the new tools are being introduced and adopted, what reservations and hopes exist, and what the negotiation processes look like. The interview is in German.

David Ausserhofer

What’s Missing—Work or Workers?

„Das knappe Arbeit” is the title of Florian Butollo’s new book. According to the longtime WZB researcher, now a visiting scholar in the Globalization, Work, and Production research group, not work is the scarce resource, but workforce. Butollo predicts that there will be too much work for too few workers; and AI is contributing to this trend. He explains this provocative thesis in a conversation with Gabriele Kammerer (in German).