| Time: | April 2, 2025, 7:00 p.m. (CEST) |
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| Venue: | Stuttgart City Archive, Bellingweg 21, 70372 Stuttgart, Lecture hall |
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The relationship between humans and technology has long been marked by a troubling imbalance: humans are often seen as flawed and prone to mistakes, while machines and technologies are viewed as reliable solutions to these very imperfections. From the early days of industrial automation, when engineers resented workers, to developments like seat belts, lie detectors, friendly robots, human-factor research, and cyborg repairs. – the perception that human fallibility can be lessened by technological perfection has had a lasting influence.
Today, artificial intelligence promises to push the boundaries of human potential and make the world a better place. Yet, since the early 19th century, there has been an ongoing effort to limit, replace, and even surpass flawed humans with superior machines. The image of a perfect machine capable of solving any problem has played a key role in shaping social progress. It is now time to reconsider this illusion and its long-standing influence.
Martina Heßler is a historian and has been a professor of the history of technology at the Technical University of Darmstadt since 2019. Her research focuses on the cultural history of technology, the evolving relationship between humans and machines, the history of technological emotions, and technological failures.
Cooperation project: Stuttgart City Archive, IZKT and the Department fo the History of Technology at the university of Stuttgart.
