Artificial Intelligence – Hype, Realism, and What it means for Society

Day 1 | 09:20 – 10:15 | Main Hall

Photo. Portrait of Sebastian Thrun.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Sebastian Thrun

Stanford University

Abstract

In this presentation, the speaker will demystify many of the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence. He will provide an honest and sobering account on what has been accomplished so far, from the perspective of a person who has seen the field advance through many decades. He will argue that massive new innovations are in the pipeline today, which will gradually help all of us to live better lives, and provide examples in which way AI can make the world a better place for everyone. German researchers at the Lamarr Institute were among the earliest pioneers in the scientific field. Thrun will argue that Germany should (and is already?) position itself as a global leader of this nascent technology, through a new level of curiosity, openness, and alignment of all members of society.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Sebastian Thrun

We are pleased to announce that Professor Dr.-mult. Sebastian Thrun is the distinguished recipient of the Lamarr Award. Thrun is a pioneering figure in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, human-computer interaction, medical devices, self-driving cars, and digital higher education.

Professor Thrun completed his PhD in computer science and statistics at the University of Bonn. In 1998, he was appointed to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA. In 2003, he joined Stanford University, where he led the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL).

In 2009, Professor Thrun established the Google X research division, contributing to groundbreaking projects such as Google Glass, the Google Brain machine learning project, and autonomous vehicles. He has also founded and sold several tech companies, including Udacity, an online learning platform valued at over $1 billion, with over thirty million users in more than 160 countries, and the air cab start-up Kitty Hawk.

Google Scholar ranks Professor Thrun’s publication h-index at number 15 worldwide in all of computer science. He has been named the fifth most creative person in business by Fast Company and Global Thinker #4 by Foreign Policy. He has received numerous accolades, including the Max Planck Research Award, and holds several honorary doctorates.

We celebrate Professor Thrun’s remarkable contributions and achievements in advancing technology and education.