18 June 2019 |

Canada comes to Cyber Valley

Canadian AI experts gain insights into Europe’s biggest research cooperation in the field of AI

A group of Canadian AI experts visit the Robotics Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen.

As part of the German Federal Foreign Office's Visitors' program, a group of Canadian AI experts visited the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems on Monday in Tübingen.

Tübingen - During a visit to the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Tübingen on Monday, a high-ranking delegation of Canadian AI experts gained insights into the institute’s research activities and engaged in discussions with Cyber Valley representatives. Cyber Valley is Europe's largest research cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) with partners from politics, science, and industry. The Canadian delegation was invited by the German Federal Foreign Office as part of the Federal Republic of Germany’s Visitors‘ Program.

"For us, the visit was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Canadian approach," said Matthias Tröndle, research coordinator at MPI-IS and representative of the Cyber Valley management office. "Canada recognized at a very early stage that machine learning showed promise for the future, acted accordingly. Canadian structures and institutions in the field of AI are already well established, and we can learn a great deal from them.”

The visit focused in part on AI and society. "Our societies are facing major changes. We need to work together to find solutions that will ensure AI is of benefit to humanity,” said Lyse Langlois, Managing Director of the Observatory on the Societal Impacts of AI and Digital Technologies in Québec City, which was founded at the end of 2018. "This is why we aim to strengthen exchange with European partners," she said.

The topic of AI and society are also a central part of the Cyber Valley initiative. "With its universities, research institutes and civil society, the Stuttgart-Tübingen region offers the best conditions to help shape the global discourse on the use of AI," said Matthias Tröndle.