On the possibilities and limits of the ethics of artificial intelligence. An overview of current developments and debates with a focus on language processing systems. -/- Driven by the success of artificial intelligence (AI), the ethics of AI is currently enjoying a boom. Advice from ethics experts is increasingly being sought by policymakers and industry to proactively identify the risks associated with new AI technologies and to propose solutions. But how realistic are the expectations placed on AI ethics to make (...) technological development more equitable and acceptable? Doesn't AI ethics itself run the risk of becoming a fig leaf in the service of pre-determined economic and political goals? Based on these questions, this article presents and discusses some of the most current debates and proposals for dealing with the opportunities and risks of AI technologies, with a particular focus on language technologies. Although the danger of instrumentalization is present, the article concludes, the ethics of AI currently represents an important opportunity to identify problematic developments at an early stage and to initiate societal debates, political processes, and legal regulations that can make future AI developments more equitable and environmentally sound. (shrink)