Abstract

Since industrialization, machines have shaped and transformed human life. Currently, however, there is much talk of a new machine age. A new machine ethic is being discussed. But what characterizes these new machines? And what does it mean for the concept of the Anthropocene? The article differentiates between three categories of machines: the mechanical machine, the so-called trans-classical machine (computer, information-processing machine), and, finally, AI as a new category of machine. Each category of machines is related to historically different human-nature and human-machine relationships.