AIxIA Conference 2021: Two days dedicated to artificial intelligence
For Cameron Schuler, the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is a task for society as a whole. “It was clear a few years ago that companies in Canada needed to get better at AI,” says the Head of Industry Innovation at Canada’s Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Because individual companies could not do this alone, numerous industrial companies put money on the table and founded the institute for several million dollars to pool and support their interests. “Today, we are driving the technical revolution forward together with companies,” emphasized Schuler during his keynote speech at the Franco-German developer congress AIxIA. At the third edition of the cross-border specialist event from 18 to 19 November 2021, innovative approaches from the field of AI development were once again on the agenda and Schuler’s presentation provided the blueprint for creating a functioning network.
Good exchange between numerous experts
Bringing together AI experts from Germany and France and discussing the possibilities of cross-border cooperation was once again the aim of the third edition of the AIxIA developer congress. After the premiere in fall 2019, the exchange of experts took place virtually for the second time. “If AI experts can’t do it, who can?” said AIxIA organizer Josephine Simon from the high-tech entrepreneur network CyberForum. After two days with numerous presentations and workshops from the broad field of digitalization and AI, the coordinator of the Digital Hub for Applied Artificial Intelligence Karlsruhe drew a positive conclusion. Several hundred experts and participants had filled the existing Baden-Alsatian AI cooperation with life.
Europe must take on a pioneering role
“This is another important step towards a cross-border European AI system,” emphasized Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Economic Affairs. Europe absolutely needs more technical sovereignty of its own, she continued, as this is the only way to become independent of the powerful providers in the USA or China.
“In future, we must no longer act merely as users of IT,” the minister demanded. Europe must therefore play a pioneering role in the development of sustainable and innovative systems and this is only possible with combined forces. “Through AI, we can solve urgent problems with climate change and in medicine or care,” said the CDU politician, promoting good cooperation. In recent years, the state government has already invested a lot of money in the establishment of digital competence centers such as the Digital Hub in Karlsruhe. The AIxIA developer conference is now also an important building block for the exchange between business and science.