According to the results of a recent study by the association bitkom, the vast majority of companies see artificial intelligence as a central technology for the future, but are making very slow progress in its use. While there is awareness of the relevance of AI in business, there is a lack of applications, according to the study. That is why in the latest meeting at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) AI experts from a wide range of different fields joined to exchange ideas on the future of AI and its impacts on industry and society.

To this end, the Helmholtz local unit matter supported the event fundamentally. Our Young investigator group around Nico Hoffmann moderated a discussion round on digital twins - a challenging task as this topic is both at the edge of innovation (think the industrial metaverse) and yet little known under a common umbrella. The Helmholtz AI consultants supported a discussion round on working with images and videos as well as a discussion round on tabular data. This was framed by our consultant head, Peter Steinbach, presenting the local unit to a wider audience as a keynote. Peter Steinbach, Helmholtz AI consultant leader at HZDR (left) and Helene Hoffmann, Helmholtz AI consultant at HZDR (right), giving a keynote and leading one of the workshop sessions at the experts networking meeting in Dresden.

Pictures: @HZDR/Oliver Killig

The event was hosted by the Helmholtz AI local unit heads at HZDR, Michael Bussmann, who is now working as the scientific director of the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) and Guido Juckeland. In the view of Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow the results of this networking event served a critical role in connecting the AI protagonists in Saxony: "Research and teaching in the academic field will play a very central and decisive role in the implementation of our far-reaching ambitions in artificial intelligence in Saxony. In the field of science, we can rely on a high-performance, technology-based and application-oriented research landscape. Unlike almost any other federal state, we have the prerequisites in the field of AI that enable us to create value from the idea through research and development as well as transfer to commercial success. The opportunities here lie in particular in networking and cooperation between research and industry to build a nationally and internationally visible AI ecosystem. The task now is to make something of it."

Building on the Free State's AI strategy, measures are being taken to strengthen research at universities and non-university research institutions on the one hand and the use of AI in companies on the other. The task is to create the framework conditions for this:

• Promote (cutting-edge) research and innovations
• Targeting the expansion of research structures
• Support networking and cooperation
• Enable data access as a central prerequisite for research
• Strengthen education and training in the field of AI
• Increase Saxony's attractiveness for skilled workers and start-ups

The results produced by the various discussion rounds during the event are currently compiled into a report, which is planned to be published early next year.