On the last stop of his tour through the German AI competence centers, Mario Brandenburg, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), visited the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at the Dortmund site on Wednesday (July 19). Together with Gonca Türkeli-Dehnert, State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKW), he gained an overview of the Lamarr Institute’s diverse research and educational projects as well as its innovative AI applications for business and society.
From Science to Practice: Lamarr Institute develops Smart Technologies for Business and Industry
Research results from the Lamarr Institute demonstrate the potential applications of Artificial Intelligence in practice and are already found in real-world application in companies today. In a live demonstration of the LoadRunner®, high-speed robots for sorting and distribution processes, and the evoBOT®, a human-centered, dynamically stable transport robot, State Secretary Brandenburg and State Secretary Türkeli-Dehnert experienced embodied, simulation-based Artificial Intelligence in intralogistics first-hand.
Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael ten Hompel, Lamarr Director at TU Dortmund University/Fraunhofer IML, says: “With its unique combination of basic and application-oriented cutting-edge research on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, the Lamarr Institute is already successfully laying the foundation for intelligent technologies – including for industry and startups. In order to make the German AI innovations from research competitive on the international market, there is now also a need for significant investments and by German companies.”
Triangular AI: High-performing, sustainable, and ethically responsible Artificial Intelligence for Society
Along the central research paradigm Triangular AI (AI3), Lamarr scientists are working on a new generation of Artificial Intelligence that not only uses data, but also additional knowledge and contextual information. During a tour, experienced scientists and dedicated young researchers from the Lamarr Institute presented highlights from their research. In addition to the introduction of a label system for the transparent depiction of resource consumption of AI models, the presentation of the recently crowned world champions in robot soccer and the demonstrated use of Artificial Intelligence in quantum computing and manufacturing processes of Industry 4.0, Mario Brandenburg and Gonca Türkeli-Dehnert gained insights into the highly relevant research on AI-based large language models.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Wrobel, Director of the Lamarr Institute at the University of Bonn, says: “We are pleased that large language models from the Lamarr Institute are already in productive use, among others in auditing and in the medical field. At the same time, we are already working on the next generation of generative Artificial Intelligence in the context of OpenGPT-X and WestAI.”
Commitment to Education and the Future: Lamarr Institute brings AI and Machine Learning into Schools
Teaching, education and training in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are central to the Lamarr Institute’s mission. That is why Lamarr researchers are actively engaged in educational initiatives, such as Roberta® and AI4Schools, which were showcased on Wednesday, including a live demonstration of the Open Roberta® Lab programming platform. Study and advanced training offers round out the Lamarr Institute’s educational work.
Prof. Dr. Christian Bauckhage, Director of the Lamarr Institute at Fraunhofer IAIS, says: “Sustained excellence in Artificial Intelligence research is only possible if we ensure the excellent training of the next generation of highly qualified researchers. In addition to continuing education programs for industry and degree programs that focus on AI at an early stage, the experts at the Lamarr Institute are therefore actively involved in educational initiatives, such as Roberta and AI4Schools, to bring Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning into schools.”
About the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
The Lamarr Institute is constituted by TU Dortmund University, the University of Bonn and the Fraunhofer Institutes for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS in Sankt Augustin and for Material Flow and Logistics IML in Dortmund. It is institutionally funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as part of the German government’s AI strategy.
The event in pictures:
