The AI research of three LMU academics has appeared on podcasts this last month. Prof. Dr. Frauke Kreuter, Chair of Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities at LMU together with her co-host Dr. Christof Horn interviewed journalist Uli Köppen on their podcast "DigDeep". Ethics of AI Junior Research Group Leader Dr. Benjamin Lange was a guest on the podcast "Digital Sensemaker" hosted by Christoph Holz to discuss the tense relationship between profit and ethics. Lastly, Prof. Dr. Gitta Kutyniok, Chair for Mathematical Foundations of AI, was featured on the "Lehmann Podcast" discussing the future of AI.

 

On April 8th at 5pm, Room 2750, Arcisstr. 21, Munich, Prof. Dr. Marc Toussaint from TU Berlin will discuss his work on Task and Motion Planning (TAMP) in robotics. The talk will explore the definitions and methodologies of planning within AI systems, contrasting traditional approaches with the integration of planning, optimization, and learning. With a focus on the practical outcomes and theoretical underpinnings of TAMP, Prof. Toussaint aims to provoke thought on the broader implications for robotics and AI research.

DataFest Germany, set for April 5-7, 2024 at the University of Mannheim, marks its 7th year. A collaborative effort by the University of Mannheim, LMU, BERD@NFDI and additional partners, with Prof. Dr. Frauke Kreuter, Chair of Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities, being responsible for the LMU side. This annual hackathon challenges students in teams to analyze a mystery dataset within 48 hours. Participants, ranging from bachelor to master's level from diverse fields, compete for prizes in categories like “Best Insight” and “Best Visualization,” with support from academic and professional experts. The event, inspired by the original DataFest at the University of California in 2011, also hosts a career fair for networking with potential employers.

The Tensor Tournament, a one-day machine learning hackathon, will take place at universities across Bavaria including LMU on May 4th, where it will be hosted by the new AI-HUB@LMU. It will be open to Bavarian university students with basic knowledge of machine learning. Teams of three students will solve three tasks over six hours and compete for prizes.

On March 23/24, the Konrad Zuse School of Excellence in Reliable AI hosted its first-ever Hackathon this month. Several teams competed over the span of an intensive weekend to work on projects in the realm of reliable artificial intelligence, which they then presented on Sunday evening.

 

This newsletter will take a brief break next month. We will be back with AI@LMU-news on May 1 in time for the new semester. We wish you all a wonderful semester break!