Judith Dada: “We need the European Manhattan Project!”

Dusseldorf. Judith Dada is one of Germany's best-known start-up minds. The federal government is also getting advice on artificial intelligence from the long-time investor and new co-head of the German AI start-up Langdock. In the summer, she and a group of experts caused a stir with a fictional scenario that shows a dramatic loss of importance for the continent if we miss the AI ​​revolution.

Handelsblatt: Judith Dada, together with other experts in artificial intelligence, you have published a scenario paper: Europe 2031 outlines what could happen if Europe misses the AI ​​revolution. What was the motivation – and why now?

Judith Dada: We believe that Europe underestimates the speed and magnitude of the transformation. There must now be the most drastic political agenda in peacetime. And you can't really break through with normal reports and statistics.

Instead, you chose a narrative form, a kind of science fiction, with which you look five years into the future. What could things look like in Europe then?

In the dark scenario we are painting, firstly, the European Union is falling apart because individual countries are making their own deals. Secondly, we can no longer afford our social model, in which the weak are also taken care of. And thirdly, Europe will ultimately become a kind of vassal state, a plaything of the great powers USA and China.