IViR is pleased to announce that
Prof. Hannah Ruschemeier & Prof. Rainer Mühlhoff
will give a lecture entitled
The AI State – why we need to save the rule of law from “effectiveness”
on 16 May 2025
The establishment of a “Government Efficiency” department, led by the world’s richest man, and operating outside legal constraints—rapidly dismissing public servants, cutting subsidies, and halting state payments—exemplifies a growing erosion of the rule of law. This move reinforces a dominant global narrative: that artificial intelligence (AI) is synonymous with innovation and efficiency, necessitating its expanded role in public administration.
This vision redefines governance by replacing civil servants, rule-based procedures, and substantive decision-making with AI-driven automation. Big Tech firms, which control AI applications, not only profit from states’ dependence on their technology but also monopolize expertise, positioning themselves as indispensable advisors. The concentration of technological knowledge thus becomes a concentration of political power.
Regulatory efforts struggle to keep pace. Even before mounting U.S. pressure, the European Commission had withdrawn key legislative measures, including AI liability rules. The fate of the AI Regulation in 2025 remains uncertain. Meanwhile, calls for “more Elon Musk” in Germany reflect a growing push to dismantle bureaucratic safeguards in the name of efficiency.
Despite well-documented risks—bias, job displacement, de-skilling, and loss of sovereignty—AI continues to be integrated into governance without democratic oversight. The unchecked influence of private tech corporations over public administration raises urgent concerns about accountability, legal protections, and state autonomy. The erosion of regulatory mechanisms leaves power increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, transforming AI into an instrument of unchecked governance rather than a tool for public good.
To preserve democratic institutions, robust legal and technical safeguards are imperative. Without them, AI will not only replace human decision-making but also dismantle the very structures designed to ensure justice, accountability, and the rule of law.
In our interdisciplinary collaboration we discuss these developments from a normative critical point of view, combining technical, ethical and legal aspects.
Hannah Ruschemeier is Professor for Public Law, Data Protection Law and Law of Digitalisation at the University of Hagen and visiting scholar at IVIR in summer 2025. In her research she combines traditional questions of Public Law with the challenges of digital transformation with a focus on power dimensions.
She is particularly interested in collective dimensions of rights, privacy, technical driven inequalities, data power, new interferences with fundamental rights, surveillance, regulation of technology.
Rainer Mühlhoff, philosopher and mathematician, is full professor of Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Osnabrück. They research ethics, data protection and critical social theory in the digital society. In their interdisciplinary work, Rainer brings together philosophy, media studies and computer science to investigate the interplay of technology, power and social change.
Practical details:
Date: 16 May 2025
Time: 15:30 – 16:45 CET (Amsterdam)
Place:
– IViR Room, REC A5.24, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam.
– Online via Zoom (you will receive the Zoomlink via e-mail on the morning of the lecture).
See also the flyer. Please register below to sign up for this lecture.