In this episode, Mercedes and Severin discuss how AI represents a fundamentally different technological shift from previous digital revolutions. She demystifies how large language models actually work, explores why we need public AI and open data sets to counter corporate dominance, and challenges the binary thinking around AI—neither savior nor devil—arguing that our fear of machines replacing human work is actually masking deeper anxieties about an out-of-control financial system.

GUEST

Mercedes Bunz is Professor of Digital Culture and Society at King's College London's Department of Digital Humanities, where she researches how digital technology transforms knowledge, communication, power, and society. Author of "The Silent Revolution" (2012), an early exploration of how algorithms shape our world, she co-founded the Creative AI Lab with Serpentine Gallery to help artists engage critically with AI technologies on their own terms. She also co-founded meson.press, an open-access digital publishing initiative, and advocates for demystifying technology so critical thinkers—rather than just profit-seekers—shape its development.

HOST

Severin Matusek is a cultural theorist and founder of co—matter, a creative studio exploring the cultural and societal impact of new technologies.

IDEAS AND PEOPLE IN CONTEXT

CREDITS

The Vienna Business Agency supports new companies, projects and products that develop Vienna's creative industries further. Find out more at http://viennabusinessagency.at.

Editorial & Production Team (in alphabetical order): Carina Dala, Severin Matusek, Elisabeth Noever-Ginthör, Alice Smith, Heinz Wolf.

Theme Music by Hell Mutang.