Franco-German conference: AIxIA transports artificial intelligence into everyday life

The two-day Franco-German specialist event AIxIA will take place on November 18 and 19, 2021 hybrid.

Artificial intelligence and the so-called Internet of Things are two absolute hot topics in the digitalization of the economy and society. The two topics will be brought together at the third edition of the Franco-German developer conference AIxIA “AI of Things”. The conference will be moderated live on stage, with virtual participation possible via video conferencing systems. “Of course, we would have liked to hold an in-person event again,” says organizer Josephine Simon from the high-tech entrepreneur network CyberForum, who is expecting around 200 participants. However, due to the uncertain pandemic situation, face-to-face meetings were not possible.

Keynotes on the practical use of AI

For Simon, the two keynotes by Eran Kravitz and Cameron Schuler will be the highlights of the upcoming AIxIA. Kravitz is the co-founder of the Israeli company Shopic, which is currently developing a system for automatically recognizing goods in shopping carts for Aldi Süd. The aim is to facilitate payment processes and reduce the theft of goods. “It’s exciting to see how artificial intelligence is increasingly penetrating our everyday lives,” says Simon.

Schuler is one of the directors of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and will speak about reinforcement learning as an important component of the Internet of Things. Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Economic Affairs Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut will give a political welcome address.

Workshops on the digitalization of agriculture

The second day of the event will feature workshops on topics such as resource optimization and the use of artificial intelligence in agriculture and industrial production. Improving efficiency in agriculture and industry through digitalization has also been a focus of previous editions of the Franco-German conference. There is just as much room for improvement in the generation of electricity and heat as there is in the consumption of water and fertilizers.

Cross-border network

Simon is completely satisfied with the response to the premiere in fall 2019 and the virtual event in the Corona year 2020 . “A lot of goodcross-border contacts have been made,” emphasizes the AIxIA coordinator.Getting experts from the two neighbouring countries around the table and getting them excited aboutthe joint further development of AI systems is much easier than it was a few years ago thanks to thefunctioning network.In addition, the first Franco-German projects for thefurther development of artificial intelligence have already been initiated. “If we want to compete with America on this topic in the future,” says Simon. “Then we have to join forces and work together.”