humanet3: The Third Attempt at a Human-Centered Internet A Research Agenda (Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 25-21), 2025, 26
The internet as space for public debate and the exchange of opinions is currently experiencing a pivotal moment: First, because of the exhilarated technological development connected to artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models, and second, due to a new wave of regulatory responses. Against the backdrop of these factual and normative developments, three Max Planck Institutes decided to jointly set up the humanet3 group which analyzes, deconstructs, and reimagines the 'human-centered digital transformation' of digital public spaces. This research agenda lays out the concrete research projects conducted by the group in the fields of law and computational social sciences, ranging from the concept of human-centered AI and the construction of 'the human' in global law to the EU's regulation of human behavior by social media platforms and the question how a regulatory shift towards empowering non-state collectives could enable society to reclaim power from Big Tech social media companies.
