Start of Frankfurter Buchmesse: “AI must serve people – not the other way around”

By choosing to attend Frankfurter Buchmesse, visitors are saying yes to diversity, discovery and experience, as well as discussion and dialogue”, said Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, Chairwoman of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers & Booksellers Association) at the press conference to mark the opening of the fair. “Frankfurter Buchmesse, one of the most important cultural events in the world, is about nothing less than the question of how we want to live together. How do we want to inform ourselves? How will we form our opinions? On what basis will we make decisions? Who gets to decide what information is available to us? And what does this mean for our coexistence in democracy and freedom?"

The book industry is currently holding its own in a difficult economic climate. Industry revenue rose by 1.8 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year. The positive development of the book market continues to be fuelled by the enthusiasm for books among young people between the ages of 16 and 29, for whom the industry offers attractive and customised products. Nonetheless, the industry is facing numerous challenges, such as unbridled content theft by big tech companies, ongoing cost pressure, excessive bureaucratic requirements and a growing deficit in reading skills.

According to Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, the greatest challenge for the future of our society is how we deal with artificial intelligence: "The fundamental pillars of a democratic society must also be protected in the age of AI. In addition to all the positive effects, AI, like any ground-breaking technology, also harbours dangers. We must not leave this powerful tool in the hands of a few big tech companies. Politicians must finally commit big tech to fair play through clear rules, so that AI serves people and society - and not the other way round."

What does that mean specifically? Karin Schmidt-Friderichs continued: "When it comes to the content that AI releases or retains, key issues relating to transparency, usage rights, accountability and liability need to be clarified at a political level. This is the only way that big tech and the creative industry can interact sustainably and the only way that the formation of free opinion can take place."

In addition, media-related skills in conjunction with the promotion of reading must be more firmly anchored in society and especially in the school curriculum. Karin Schmidt-Friderichs commented: "Currently, not even one in four children have a comprehensive reading level after primary school and one in five adults reads at the level of a ten-year-old child. Without this basic competence, how can we judge whether AI is hallucinating or manipulating us or not? We urgently need a solution to the dramatic educational crisis in Germany."

The Börsenverein will be addressing the topics of AI, how we form opinions and democracy in a number of events at Frankfurter Buchmesse. The following is a selection of these events:

DISCUSSION: Bowing down to the Tech Industry or Fair Play? The AI Act and the future of Creativity in Europe. 
Thursday, October 16th, 14:00 | Center Stage (Hall 4.1 B68) 
Where do we go from here with European AI regulation, what might a fair AI policy look like and what is required to safeguard creative work?

DISCUSSION: Deceptively Real: Deepfakes and the Fight for Reality.
Friday, October 17th, 14:00 | Center Stage (Hall 4.1 B68)
How do we protect our democracy, our freedom of information and human creativity from AI-generated manipulation?

DISCUSSION: Whose Truth Counts?
Saturday, October 18th, 15:00 | Center Stage (Hall 4.1 B68)
The allure of conspiracy theories and their impact on democracy. A conversation with Aladin El-Mafaalani.

All Börsenverein events can be found at: www.boersenverein.de/buchmesse