Artificial intelligence is no longer a niche topic and is rapidly gaining significance in both professional and private life for many people. Numerous job profiles have already undergone fundamental changes due to AI, whether in daily processes or customer interactions. But the question remains: Where is all this leading?
Dr. Patrick Glauner from Deggendorf Institute of Technology explains in an interview what the hype surrounding AI is all about and what trends and challenges await us.
How much reality is behind the current AI hype?
The term “artificial intelligence” has been around since the mid-1950s. It remained a niche topic until recently, becoming much more well-known with the rise of ChatGPT. Of course, AI has existed before in our daily lives, such as speech recognition on smartphones, but for the past 14 months, everyone has been talking about AI. This is generally a good thing and helps advance the topic.
There is always some hype and false promises, depending on whom you speak to, but the positives outweigh the negatives. I also don’t think this hype will fade anytime soon. More and more AI applications and products are emerging that we use in our daily lives. This is a great development that will continue to evolve in the coming years.
About Prof. Dr. Patrick Glauner
Prof. Dr. Patrick Glauner has been Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology since the age of 30. Previously, he was head of the “Data Academy” division at Alexander Thamm GmbH, managed the group-wide AI Competence Center at Krones AG and worked at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). As an expert, he has advised the parliaments of Germany, France and Luxembourg. He is listed by CDO Magazine as one of the world’s leading professors in the field of data. National and international media regularly report on his work.
Which AI trends will be relevant in the coming years, and which areas or applications should we focus on?
I see healthcare as a major opportunity. We have a significant shortage of doctors in Germany, which will worsen due to the skilled labor shortage and demographic changes. AI could automate some of the tasks performed by doctors, allowing them to spend more time with patients or on consultations. This concept can be applied to various industries, whether mechanical engineering or chemistry.
There are also ideas that AI will become much more integrated into our computers in the next few years, so we will interact more seamlessly with AI without having to open individual apps or switch between them. However, this is still largely speculative, and we’ll see how exactly it works out.
What challenges and opportunities arise from the development and deployment of AI technologies, and what do you recommend for companies?
Currently, many fears and concerns are being spread about AI, leading to calls for regulation. But as end users, we have been dealing with AI for many years, whether through smartphones or spam filters. Even in safety-critical areas, such as nuclear power plants, AI has been used since the 1970s and 1980s, and there have not been major AI-related catastrophes.
The question, therefore, is whether additional AI regulation is needed. Where there is a real danger to life, health, or financial assets, there is already so-called vertical regulation. For instance, if you want to build a power plant, a car, or an aircraft, or even deal with insurance products, there are systems and processes that are already regulated. The rationale behind wanting to impose additional controls on AI doesn’t make much sense to me.
What the EU is currently planning with the “AI Act” would make innovation more expensive or even hinder it due to stringent requirements. In the healthcare sector, there is already plenty of regulation, and rightly so. We need to fundamentally question whether we need separate AI regulation at all.
Cover: © Prof. Dr. Patrick Glauner