Mining the Need for Human Connection in an Age of Unreality

In a digital landscape flooded with AI products that feel suspiciously like solutions in search of problems, it can be easy to lose sight of a basic question: what are these products for, and who are they really serving?

At re:publica 2025, Casey Mock will dissect the powerful forces driving the companion AI phenomenon and its connection to the broader AI economy. By examining the flow of venture capital and deliberate technological design choices behind these systems, his talk reveals how these products aren't built to serve genuine human needs, but exploit them.

The implication is a transformation of our economy and information ecosystem with profound consequences. Casey offers critical perspectives on reclaiming our ability to relate to one another before our common reality dissolves completely.

This programme session is supported by Stiftung Mercator. / Dieser Programmpunkt wird durch die Stiftung Mercator unterstützt.