The 4th Thuringian AI Forum came to a successful close on November 4 in Erfurt. The symposium, hosted by the Thuringian Center for Learning Systems and Robotics , brought together 78 participants from companies, research institutions, universities, networks and public authorities to exchange ideas about artificial intelligence (AI) in applications in Thuringia. In his welcoming address, the Minister forEconomy, Science and Digital Society, Wolfgang Tiefensee, emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence for Thuringia's economy and science. He said that a wealth of currently ongoing and planned projects illustrates how important the research field and the application of artificial intelligence is for Thuringia.
The 4th Thuringian AI Forum, which was held for the first time in three years in the presence at the Dompalais in Erfurt, aimed to advance one question: How can new AI technologies and products support humans and the environment in which they live? The question of how AI is already being used and can be used even more in the future was addressed in three major thematic blocks:"AI and Sustainability," "AI in the Healthcare Industry," and "AI in Thuringia."
AI and sustainability
How can AI serve on the way to more sustainability and environmental protection? Dr. Astrid Nieße, Professor of Digitalized Energy Systems at the University of Oldenburg, explained how AI can help make resources in post-fossil and distributed energy systems efficient, sustainable and above all safe. Her prognosis is optimistic: "AI methods also bring new risks, but also the key to controlling them." Dr. Nicole Ludwig, head of the independent research group "Machine Learning in Sustainable Energy Systems" at the Cluster of Excellence "Machine Learning" at the University of Tübingen, dedicated herself to the question of how AI techniques can be used to predict the use of energy resources under the changing conditions of climate change. Her key message: AI can already provide users with concrete assistance on where the placement of wind turbines is most appropriate.
AI in the healthcare industry
How does AI already support the healthcare industry and the medical world? Dr. Alexander Katzmann, project coordinator in the CT Oncology topic area at Siemens Healthineers in Forchheim, gave an overview of how machine learning can be used to support clinical decision-making processes as part of AI and presented corresponding current developments from his company. Anke Mayfahrth and Alexander Leipnitz from Tediro GmbH, a robotics company in the healthcare sector, gave an insight into how robotics and AI can enrich physiotherapy and support hospital staff in the physiotherapeutic care of patients. Building on the ROGER research project with TU Ilmenau, they presented a new mobile robotic platform that allows patients to train to walk correctly again after surgery, observed and corrected by the robot.
AI in Thuringia
The third thematic block focused on Thuringia's AI map. Christian Schädlich, research associate at the Center for Digital Transformation Thuringia (ZeTT) presented the results of a survey showing which Thuringian companies are already using AI productively and where there is still potential or even skepticism. Sebastian Gawron, digitalization ambassador at Neue Technologie AG, presented the Thuringian initiative "KI macht Schule," which aims to fill the gap in the education system through interactive and application-oriented student workshops and teacher training. Thus, students are taught basic AI knowledge, practical skills with AI notebooks and also the ethical assessment of AI applications in eight-hour courses. Sebastian Gawron also presented three AI research projects of NT.AG, an Erfurt-based IT specialist in the digitalization of business processes, from the fields of sustainable agriculture, inventory modeling of buildings and infrastructure structures, and on the real laboratory for mobility, logistics and energy services.
Contact
Prof. Horst-Michael Groß
Head of Neuroinformatics and Cognitive Robotics and
Chairman of the Board TZLR e. V.
+49 3677 69-2858
horst-michael.gross@tu-ilmenau.de
