Agenda

• 13:00 h | Joint welcome of the organizers
  • Armin Barbalata, Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Munich and Upper Bavaria
  • Prof. Dr. Alexander Pretschner, fortiss GmbH
  • Dr. Philipp Hartmann, appliedAI Initiative GmbH
• 13:10 h | Introduction to AI - When is AI good (enough)?
  • Prof. Dr. Alexander Pretschner, fortiss GmbH
    ChatGPT reignited the AI hype that had perhaps already lost some momentum in industrial practice last fall. Today, when AI is recurrently compared to the atomic bomb, a remarkable shift in discourse has already taken place: The question is no longer how well a particular AI works in a particular context and how useful it is. The question is then rather whether we can still tame this AI. In this way, however, we implicitly say "that AI works", and there is then no longer any reason for justified skepticism regarding the possible applications or the quality.
    The crucial question is rarely asked: How "well" does AI work, and when does it work well enough? Since we use machine learning, currently the most successful form of AI, preferably for problems that we cannot describe precisely ("Detect pedestrians!" or "Give useful answers to arbitrary questions!"), the question of the quality of corresponding systems is a very difficult one from the outset. In the talk, we argue that it is often useful and sometimes not - and what that means for the application of machine learning in practice.
• 13:40 h | Examples from medium-sized companies
  • Nicole Höss, RCAI der OTH Regensburg
    The "AI Transfer Plus" funding program helps small and medium-sized companies apply artificial intelligence in a practical way to increase efficiency, innovativeness and growth. Participating companies are guided in adopting strategic and technical best practices and receive hands-on support in implementing their AI projects. The presentation will feature five success stories and use cases from companies that became successful AI adopters with the help of the program.
    By using AI, companies can save time and costs in purchasing by automatically forecasting prices taking into account various supplier relationships. Especially in time-critical business areas such as additive manufacturing, even small process automations, for example with optical sorting systems, can achieve decisive market advantages. In addition, AI enables the prediction of results of complex and high-risk production steps in order to avoid faulty batches due to design errors and to conserve resources. Predictive maintenance can be used to plan precisely fitting maintenance intervals and to detect errors and defects earlier in order to increase system availability - whether for batteries or power transformers. Innovative products such as autonomous agricultural robots also relieve the burden on humans by taking over time-consuming precision tasks such as fertilizer distribution and weed removal. The examples presented in the talk will serve as practical guidance for other companies on their way to successfully deploying artificial intelligence.
• 14:05 h | Make or Buy? Two examples of collaboration with start-ups
  • Johanna Farnhammer, appliedAI
    This talk will highlight what options mid-sized companies have besides developing their own AI system. A make-or-buy strategy will be presented and different ways to implement an AI project without a large development team will be discussed. Two examples of mid-sized companies collaborating with startups will be explained in more detail. The speaker has accompanied two startups over several months, which helped a medium-sized company to implement their first AI use case. In this presentation, you will hear the lessons learned from both sides.
• 14:25 h | Pause & Networking
  • Network with other participants, experts and companies in our networking area.
• 15:00 h Funding opportunities: Cooperation providers, startups and users
  • Andreas Preißer, KI Agentur
    In order to carry out the digital transformation swiftly and profitably, solid financing of investments in digital innovations is necessary. Public funding can be an important component of this financing. Unfortunately, many SMEs are deterred by the non-transparent funding application process and the quite diverse funding options. This does not have to be the case. We present practicable funding options.
• 15:15 h | Generative AI: An Introduction
  • Eshref Januzaj, Hochschule Munich
  • Dr. Martin Häusl, Hochschule Munich
    Generative AI refers to models and techniques designed to generate new and diverse data. This can be text, pieces of music, images, and even audio and video files. These models learn from existing data and are able to generate similar content that is often nearly indistinguishable from human-created content. Tools such as ChatGPT or Bard can be used today to integrate generative AI into enterprises. An important aspect of interacting with generative AI is the art of "prompting" - giving instructions or asking questions to control the type of output generated. In addition to creative innovation, these technologies raise legal and ethical issues. AI regulation, copyright, and ethical considerations are critical issues to keep in mind as we explore these possibilities.
• 15:30 h | Workshop "Experience AI Introduction" - Focus: ChatGTP for SMEs
  • Johanna Farnhammer, appliedAI
    The interactive role play allows participants to experience what it feels like to implement AI in a mid-sized company. Participants are divided into smaller groups and play the role of a taskforce at a fictitious automotive manufacturer. The taskforce is to select an initial AI application for the company, but has many unanswered questions from the workforce.
    Through the role play, participants will learn about a real enterprise AI product and learn about the process of launching a finished AI product. In the process, they will be able to cover topics such as corporate processes, corporate culture, organization and the like, and gain valuable experience.
• 16:30 h | Closure of the event & Networking