Showroom for artificial intelligence opens in Hamburg

10 February 2022

ARIC Artificial Intelligence Showroom comes to life under theme of "Inspire, learn, collaborate and create"

An autonomously driven robot delivered three pairs of scissors Tuesday (February 8, 2022) to ceremoniously open the "ARIC Artificial Intelligence Showroom" in Hamburg. The delivery robot by the Estonian start-up Starship Technologies was greeted by a delighted Michael Westhagemann, Senator for Economics, Dr. Ing. Susann Wegner, AI & Data Analytics at Lufthansa Industry Solutions, and Andres Sutt, Estonia's Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology. An ARIC delegation first hit on the idea for the showroom during a trip to Estonia. A whole range of AI applications is now on display in Hamburg. Estonia, by the way, has the most unicorns per inhabitant.

Estonian administration almost fully digitized

"Estonia has digitized 99 per cent of all administrative services," according to Sutt. "But we're not there yet. The last per cent is not crucial, but we want to improve customer satisfaction and better understand the customer journey." The new showroom in Hamburg, which features exhibits from both Estonia and the Hanseatic city, links up both AI ecosystems, he noted. "It shows how international collaboration works." And collaboration is important. Rapid technological change is on the horizon and likely to outpace the developments witnessed over the last 25 years. AI will play an essential role therein.

f. l. to r.: Andres Sutt, Susann Wegner and Michael Westhagemann

AI's huge potential in aviation

AI already plays a significant role in aviation. Apart from applications for automating production, optimizing fuel use or facial recognition at airports, AI holds huge potential for improving the quality of forecasts such as accurate arrival times, passenger and baggage volumes, or the number of meals needed on board and in airport restaurants and canteens, said Wegner. "This new showroom offers an opportunity to counteract the 'terminator effect'." The AI expert is referring to the ongoing scepticism about the allegedly new technology. "We use AI in so many areas that we don't even notice it. Yet, fears of dangerous AI still persist," Westhagemann pointed out.

Visitors learn in exhibitions and presentations just how useful AI can actually be, what the current state of the art is and what opportunities it holds for the future - true to the motto of "inspire, learn, collaborate and create" in the showroom in Docklands.
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Sources and further information

aric-hamburg.de

ARIC e. V.

The showroom can be found at ARIC's headquarters in Altona's Docklands. ARIC has functioned as a link between application-orientated research and practical AI applications since 2019. Experts in business, science and society have joined forces in the registered association. As a cross-thematic and cross-industry contact for all AI-related issues, ARIC facilitates personal contacts and supports co-operations at home and abroad through events in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and delegation trips.