Every year the students of "Physics Advanced" travel to South Tyrol to study a topic that is different from what is considered in their usual courses. In September 2018 they engaged in the opportunities and risks of Artificial Intelligence.
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 the Elite Graduate Program “Physic 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 introduced 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 in-telligence 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.
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, the village of 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.
