June 10, 2024
On June 3, appose GmbH, led by Mumi Yüksel and Sven Kronenberg, hosted the second AI Monday at MAFINEX in beautiful Mannheim. Once again, the iSAX Expertenservice was there with a small team.
During a relaxed get-together, we were able to make new acquaintances as well as see familiar faces again. With a chilled drink in hand, the actual event got underway very soon. Once again, many AI enthusiasts and industry experts were present.
Martin Schöpper, Deputy CISO at BASF, kicked things off with his presentation “AI Security – more important than ever”. He gave a brief insight into the security aspects of international corporations and highlighted the risks they face in relation to attacks from AI systems. Schöpper provided concrete numerical examples of the frequency of attacks and their success rate, which few people would have expected.
Prof. Dr. Martin Ruskowski was invited as the next speaker and also dealt with the topic of security. However, due to his work at DFKI, he drew the circle to digitalization and industry. In his presentation “When AI ensures safety and more production”, he used specific examples to show how we can make the best use of AI for ourselves. Together with his research team, he recreated a production line on which AI attacks are carried out. Among other things, this data is used to gain new insights into security measures.
The final speaker was Karsten Hellinger, who gave a really interesting talk on “What if AI is sick?”. With his background in healthcare, he drew a comparison between a sick patient and a “sick” AI system. He clarified questions such as what happens when AI systems fail or are attacked and what preventative measures can be taken. In doing so, Hellinger referred to the current AI Act, the recently adopted EU-wide directive package for dealing with risks and obligations of providers and consumers of AI systems.
After a short break with pizza and regional wine, we were able to welcome surprise guest Thorsten Riehle. The Mayor of the City of Mannheim for Economic Affairs, Labor, Social Affairs and Culture showed the parallels between his area of responsibility and that of AI systems and drew attention to the possibilities that AI can create – possibilities that we are not even aware of today.
Three different aspects of the safety of AI systems, with partly overlapping but also contrasting views of the speakers, then emerged in the final panel discussion. In the end, however, everyone came to the conclusion that, although AI entails risks, we should use it to accompany our daily activities and enjoy the benefits of these systems.
With this outlook, we are looking forward to the next AI Monday in October and are excited to see which new aspects will be highlighted then.
Author: Vanessa Heitlinger