The official opening of the new academic year took place with the enrolment ceremony on October 1—at least as far as the “Education” division of our university is concerned.

The researchers at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences celebrated this on October 9, in keeping with a lovely tradition, with their own event: the “Opening of the Year of Science.” Like the Year of Science 2019 itself, this event focused on the theme of “Artificial Intelligence.” So it was only natural to organize this event in collaboration with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. In addition to the researchers, we were able to welcome interested students and representatives from politics, business, and society. A good-sized lecture hall spoke to the interest in the topic.

In specialist presentations, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lässig (HSZG) provided an introduction and moderated the session, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ringwelski (HSZG) provided further in-depth analysis, and Mr. Löffler (BTU Cottbus/Senftenberg) focused specifically on constraint programming, offering insights into the history, current state, applications, and future prospects of artificial intelligence.
Dr. Felix Burkhardt (audEERING GmbH) bridged the gap between purely mathematical algorithms and everyday experiences with Siri, Alexa, and similar technologies through his research on the automated detection of emotions in the human voice. He emphasized that we cannot yet speak of true artificial intelligence; rather, the field is still primarily focused on machine learning.
In closing, media artist Klemens Czurda from KIT read a welcome message and extended an invitation to the KIT AI Science Film Festival on Tour, which began at 7 p.m.

Afterward, over light refreshments, attendees engaged in lively discussions exploring the possibilities of AI and examining the practical examples on display. The Institute for Process Automation, Process Engineering, and Measurement Technology (IPM) showcased its work using the example of an image processing system for inspecting reed plates in the textile industry, as well as the use of an artificial neural network for object recognition.
Martin Herling, a graduate of HSZG, presented a video showcasing his award-winning idea for a garden maintenance robot, which was recognized in the“Artificial Intelligence—Showcase Your Research” competition.

In particular, the short films “CC,” “The Gallery of Forgotten Professions,” and “ZOE”—screened in the lecture hall starting at 7:00 p.m.—addressed the fears in society that are also linked to the evening’s theme: “Human, Machine!” What will it be like when robots have to care for children, create works of art, or make decisions about life and death?
The concluding documentary “AlphaGo” impressively demonstrated how machine learning works and how, when humans feed a computer the right algorithms, entirely new moves can suddenly emerge in a game that’s thousands of years old.

At this point, we’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the staff members from Görlitz and Zittau who helped prepare the event, the wonderful team at “Zur alten Freundschaft” for the catering, the speaker for insights into this fascinating topic, and the Center for Applied Cultural Studies and Studium Generale at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for organizing the AI Science Film Festival on Tour.

Text: Kristin Sprechert, Martin Kunack