Futurium is a forum, exhibition venue and experimental space in which visions of the future and innovative technologies are presented and discussed. The "Perfect Match" event now focused on artificial intelligence as one of the most promising and most discussed future technologies of our time. The event was organized jointly by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Futurium and the Learning Systems Platform. Other participants were the Gesellschaft für Informatik, Wissenschaftsjahr Künstliche Intelligenz, the University of Paderborn, the Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, and Siemens.
The event opened with a moderated discussion between Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Wahlster, Chief Executive Advisor and long-time CEO of DFKI, and the Director of the Futurium, Stefan Brandt. Here, the recently published report of the Federal Government's Data Ethics Commission became the focus of discussion. As a member of the Commission, Prof. Wahlster was the ideal dialogue partner on this topic.
Subsequently, the participants of the discussion rounds were introduced. The "Perfect Match" was named after the Speeddating Round with 12 experts from the field of artificial intelligence. Visitors were able to ask all the questions they had about the work of their counterpart or AI in general in short conversations - very personally and in direct contact. With Dr. Jack Thoms, Deputy Head of the Intelligent Analysis for Mass Data Research Group and Dr. Aljoscha Burchardt from the Speech and Language Technology Research Unit, two DFKI experts engaged in an open dialogue on a wide variety of questions about the significance of artificial intelligence.
Of course, visitors were also able to get to know the technologies themselves at close quarters in the form of application simulations. Numerous demonstrators could be tested, including an exhibit of the DFKI. The vocabulary learning assistant of the Immersive Quantified Learning Lab was last part of an exhibition at MS Wissenschaft for one year and will soon find its place in the showroom of Forum Digitale Technologien. Before that, it had already been presented in the Futurium. The system analyzes data such as heart rate and eye movement to determine how learners are performing their tasks. If, for example, they are overwhelmed or bored, the learning assistant can adapt the tasks accordingly.
A format such as "Perfect Match" fits perfectly with the rapid development of innovative technologies: fast, but concrete and practice-oriented. In this context, the DFKI researchers were the perfect discussion partners for the development of artificial intelligence in Germany.