Why should it be unscientific to think about the future? Why shouldn’t we be allowed to take a critical scientific stance in thinking about the future? There is no contradiction in being scientific and turning towards the future—towards what is not yet known. 

Wouldn’t it be scientific, in the best sense of the word, if researchers examined utopias and investigated, with the best available knowledge, why they cannot become true? 

The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) offered scientists a platform for imagining utopias beyond the usual research. The visionary stories address the opportunities and challenges that digital technologies present for society in the future of 2040. And they have been collected in a book available on: https://twentyforty.hiig.de/   

In this episode we have spoken with Bronwen Deacon, coordinator of the project a the von Humboldt Institute, Gianluca Sgueo, Policy Analyst - EU Parliament and New York University Global Media Seminar Professor, and Isabella Hermann, scientific coordinator on Artificial Intelligence at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.