Study Week 2018 – Artificial Intelligence

Study Week 2018 on Artificial Intelligence

with Dr. Lars Kunze (University of Oxford), Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Kühnberger (Osnabrück University) and Prof. Dr. Joachim Hertzberg (German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence / Osnabrück University)

Every year the students of Physics Advanced travel to South Tyrol in order to study a topic – usually very different from the usual topics considered in their university courses – for a whole working week in a beautiful surrounding. This time in September 2018 the students engaged in the potential as well as opportunities and risks of Artificial Intelligence.

A topic not considered in regular physics courses

A topic that is usually not considered in the usual physics courses at the university should be selected as topic for the study weeks. In 2018 the students of Physics Advanced chose the topic Artificial Intelligence. Therefore, invited specialists in this field introduced the students to a wide range of systems that included, e.g., autonomous driving, assistance robots, and robots in agriculture.
The field of machine learning and its applications was introduces by Dr. Lars Kunze from Oxford University. Prof. Joachim Hertzberg of the University of Osnabrück talked about robotics. Furthermore, Prof. Kai-Uwe Kühnberger, who is also from Osnabrück, taught about data analysis for medical applications as well as the consequences of artificial intelligence for society.
But also the students had to contribute. Challenged by open problems they worked in small groups on programs of neural networks, on problems concerning semantic mappings in robotics, as well as on questions about data security and protection.

Discussions within a beautiful surrounding

Interesting questions arose in connection with the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence. They led to a lot of intense discussions, which either took place during plenary meetings or in small groups. For sure, the topics and questions of this study week will occupy the students for a long time after the actual study week.

Not only the invited experts and the intense work in small groups contributed to the fantastic atmosphere of the study week. The beautiful surrounding of the location where the study week took place, namely Tramin in South Tyrol, was of great importance for the success of this event. The students even could enjoy the beauty of the nature during a visit of the Bletterbach gorge that is an UNESCO World Heritage site.

Text: Michael Schmiedeberg

Programme of the Study Week 2018 with topic Artificial Intelligence: