The Ethical Challenges of the Digital Age: Between Promises of Salvation and Prophecies of Doom

This article examines the ethical challenges of digital transformation in three steps. First, it offers a survey of the various dimensions of digital transformation and the ethical challenges that are associated with them: the exposure of private life through access to data; the change of communication culture through algorithms; the concentration of corporate power; changes in the world of work; the military use of digital technology; and the fusion of the human being and the machine. Second, it reflects upon various fundamental anthropological dimensions of the biblical tradition, which does not define humankind through itself but first and foremost in relation to, and being different from, God. Third, it draws conclusions about how to deal with digital transformation: through rescuing public discourse, making digital transformation socially accountable, and offering a perspective of theological anthropology that takes account of both the vulnerability and the deep freedom of our humanity.