Big Data meets artificial intelligence

This year's event is themed "Data-driven Business Innovations for the Digital World". More than 200 data experts will give keynotes, best-practice presentations and offer workshops.

Speakers from companies such as Airbus, Rewe, Siemens, EWE, Lufthansa and Audi will be present. Decision-makers in the data economy, users of advanced Big Data and AI solutions, representatives of politics, technology providers, strategy and innovation consultants as well as scientists will come together to strategically orient themselves in the rapid change of IT, to exchange practical experiences, initiatives for the further development of framework conditions and the latest results of research and development, to initiate cooperations, to advance projects and to discuss innovative solutions live on site.

Since the 1st Big Data Summit, companies and organizations have made significant progress in transforming data into business value. Data volumes have continued to grow since then and the range of analytics tools has expanded steadily.

Nevertheless, the potential of data analysis has not yet been exhausted. The task now is to expand the business benefits from investments in big data technologies and to anchor the results of data analyses more firmly in decision-making and business processes.

Numerous companies are transforming themselves in order to exploit the opportunities of digitization for future growth. AI technologies are playing a key role in shaping the digital future. Many challenges for companies can be efficiently mastered with the help of artificial intelligence.

However, most companies are still hesitant because they are not clear enough about possible business models and the cost-benefit ratio. The 1st AI Summit offers a platform for the exchange of experiences between decision makers and for strategic orientation in the field of artificial intelligence.

Do Germans trust AI?

From Bitkom's point of view, artificial intelligence is a key technology that will have a significant impact not only on our daily lives in the coming years, but also on the competitiveness of the entire economy and on the public sector.

Against this backdrop, the Digital Association conducted a survey on the German population's acceptance of artificial intelligence: A majority of German citizens would even let AI decide for them in certain situations. For example, 15 percent say they would rather accept the decision of an AI than that of a human when it comes to applying for a loan at the bank.

Ten percent would rather face an AI than a human judge in court after a traffic accident, for example. Nine percent would rather have the question of a salary increase decided by an AI than by their boss, and just as many consider the decision of an AI to be sensible in a dispute with their partner, for example if they cannot agree on a major purchase.

Almost 3 in 10 (29 percent) of those surveyed could not imagine entrusting themselves to an AI for any of these example situations. Overall, 6 out of 10 Germans (58 percent) would prefer an AI decision to that of a human being, at least in certain situations, and only 4 out of 10 (40 percent) reject this in principle.

"Artificial intelligence has enormous potential to improve our lives - for example in healthcare and education or in administration. It offers great opportunities for companies and already has an astonishingly high level of acceptance among the population. The principle should be that a human has the final say in central decisions and that AI supports him or her in this."

says Bitkom President Achim Berg.