bz Basel: Interview with Nobel Prize winner Prof. Dr. Daron Acemoğlu

On 01/31/2025, Nobel Prize winner Prof. Dr. Daron Acemoğlu visited Basel and spoke at a presentation organized by the Democracy Foundation Basel in cooperation with the University of Basel. The topic of his presentation was the historical roots of poverty and prosperity, as well as the effects of AI and social media on society.

Prior to his presentation, Acemoğlu gave a detailed interview to the BZ Basellandschaftliche Zeitung. “Support for democracy in the industrialized world is at an all-time low,” Acemoğlu said in the interview. “What is particularly worrying is that many young people, in particular, say they no longer trust democracy.”

The economist, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2024 and teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), sees several reasons for this development. These include increasing social inequality, poor-quality public services, and the feeling of many people that they are politically unheard. “That is poison for every democracy,” he emphasized.

In addition to criticizing the crisis of democratic systems, Acemoğlu was also critical of the development of artificial intelligence. Although AI could be a versatile technology, it is currently used primarily to automate and monopolize information. “This harms democracy,” warned the economist.

As a solution, Acemoğlu argued for greater democratic control of technologies and the development of more worker-friendly AI applications. He also called for a stricter competition policy with respect to large technology companies.