AI Austria monthly: mAI Update

Research funding reloaded, study results on ChatGPT in Austria and AI in retail, AI4Green showcase project, and many more topics.

After heated events in April, the busy times continue for the AI ecosystem in May. It seems as after lengthy months of intense negotiations, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have bridged their differences and reached a provisional political deal on the Artificial Intelligence Act. We will see this month if the world’s first AI rule book has made it one step further to the direction finish line. Also, we have been busy and have loads of shocking, interesting, and good news to share!

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🚀 Latest Developments

🤯 AustroGPT to outperform ChatGPT & GPT4 - NO funds for testing?!?!

Sepp Hochreiter, the world-renowned AI researcher residing in Austria, at the University of Linz (JKU Linz), has developed a language model that, according to preliminary tests comparable potential to GPT4. One would expect that this development is celebrated and supported to the maximum extent as one of the lightning moments of not only the Austrian but also the European AI landscape. However, to the contrary! The model cannot be tested, because there are virtually no financial resources for the AI development in Austria's research policy. The devastating reality: Sepp Hochreiter considers gifting his invention to big tech, if he cannot succeed in obtaining the necessary funding to continue. 😨

As a positive side-effect of the current AI enthusiasm, this criticism was quickly picked up by the mainstream media. Together with Sepp Hochreiter, Günter Klambauer and their colleagues we criticized the state of Austrian AI funding before, especially in science and infrastructure. That we made it into ZIB2, the most important news program in the country is new and for us a good sign that the need for change is also seen within the broader public.

🤖 Regulatory Remix

After reaching a political agreement in April 2023, the European Parliament is now inching toward formalizing its position on the Artificial Intelligence Act. We have summarized the overall tendencies to give you an idea, in which direction the regulatory radar is heading:

• stricter obligations for foundation models, a sub-category of general-purpose AI that includes the likes of ChatGPT.

• extension of the ban for biometrical software as well as a ban for emotion recognition AI-powered software in the areas of law enforcement, border management, workplace, and education.

• high-risk systems that do not pose a significant risk of harm to the health, safety or fundamental rights shall not be regarded as high risk.

Minor technical changes are expected. The way ahead currently seems to be cleared for proceeding with the plenary vote still this summer.

🎉 New AI Austria Board

Time flies... Since our establishment in 2017, we kick-started many initiatives, initiated several policy discussions, and hosted countless conferences to bring the stakeholders in the AI ecosystem closer together. Together, we have achieved a lot and we are proud to share with you our most recent achievement: the expansion of our board to six board members, cordially welcoming Andreas Windisch, our Chief Science Officer, Matthias Grabner, our Chief Partnership Officer and Jeannette Gorzala, our Chief Policy Officer. On behalf of the entire team, we extend a warm welcome to each and every one of you. We are thrilled to have you join the AI Austria Board and we believe that your experience, expertise, and fresh perspectives will be invaluable assets to our board and the AI ecosystem.

6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ AI Austria reaches a new milestone on LinkedIn

We recently crossed the 6.000 follower mark on our Linkedin page, less than a year after hitting 5k. While this is a reason to celebrate in itself it’s worth noting, that thanks to the huge uptick in AI interest, our follower growth has accelerated significantly in spring. To the next 1.000 🎉

🤝 New Collaboration: Newsadoo x AI Austria

We are excited to announce our collaboration with Austrian startup Newsadoo. They will provide AI Austria with a customized, AI-curated newsfeed covering all AI developments in Austria. We are currently working on integrating this feed into aiaustria.com. In the meantime, you can preview it » here

🌈 Why ChatGPT hallucinates

ChatGPT and GPT-4 made AI mainstream. They are easy to use and can be used for various purposes. However, when it comes to presenting facts, ChatGPT is criticized for misunderstanding things, lying, inventing facts, and misleading users. Why does ChatGPT make mistakes and how experts are working to mitigate the effect? » more…

🆕 Study: AI & Retail by Handelsverband

A survey conducted by Handelsverband and Mindtake Research unveils that 36% of Austrians view the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) positively, while 44% support a partial ban in certain areas. The study also indicates that 15% of Austrians have used popular AI programs such as ChatGPT, DALL.E, and Midjourney. AI is expected to bring numerous benefits, including improving daily life, offering new services, and bolstering the economy. However, nearly half of the population believes that AI applications should be regulated or banned in specific sectors. » more…

🇦🇹 Study: How Austrians perceive ChatGPT by PWC

What do Austrians think about AI and tools like ChatGPT? A recent PwC survey conducted among 1,001 Austrians uncovers mixed feelings towards AI and AI tools such as ChatGPT. Explore the intricate sentiments and concerns revealed in a recent survey, alongside the potential benefits and drawbacks that AI could bring to the workplace and education sectors. » more…

💬 Austrian startup launches GPT alternative

The Austrian AI Company Leftshift One raised additional funding and launched its own Large Language Model, which aims to offer a data-secure and resource-efficient alternative to ChatGPT for the enterprise. The technology foundation is leaner and allows for efficient use of customers' private data centers without having to share sensitive data. » more…

🌲 Project Showcase: AI4Trees

AI4Trees is an Austrian project funded within the AI4Green framework. It aims at a unique modeling approach for climate-sensitive tree growth with the help of machine learning. A cornerstone is the availability of detailed long-time datasets on ecological and climatic parameters through an extensive forest monitoring network in Austria respectively all over Europe. » more…

🪩 Cooperation Future Ball part of ViennaUP’23

The Future Ball is a Sci-Fi Art clubbing for visionaries from technology, art, and fashion. This year the event is all about AI. The organizers were so friendly to provide a discount code to our community. Head over to the event page and redeem the code AAIC15 » more…

🦾 Call for Action

🚀 New working group: Large Language models and GenAI 🤖

A rising number of companies and startups are applying LLMs and GenAI for professional applications - from text generation to document analysis. We are in the final stages of setting up a dedicated working group for this topic, similar to our very successful RL community. If you want to join the group, already consisting of 10 companies such as Onlim, Ontec, Leftshift One, Deepopinion and Atos …just get in touch with stefan.engl [at] aiaustria.com

⛰️ Apply for I.E.C.T. Summer School 2023 fellowship

Entrepreneurs are invited to apply for a fellowship at I.E.C.T. Summer School and participate in one of Europe's most prestigious programs for academic entrepreneurship. Seize this unique opportunity to develop your ideas alongside experts, investors, and mentors. Apply by May 31st at https://www.iect.at/programmes/iect-summer-school

⛰️ Say (very soon) hello to AI Salzburg 👋

We will soon set up AI Salzburg - get in touch with robert.schmidhuber [at] aiaustria.com and join the initial batch of supporters, either virtually or meet Robert on May 17th the AI Wednesday Stammtisch.

📆 Upcoming Events

4.5. 50th Deep Learning Meetup in Vienna: AI Security // Intro to Reinforcement Learning // LLM News

8 - 10.5 International B2B Software Days 2023 - the Future of Digital Business, Vienna

11.5. eDAY23 with a focus on AI

17.5. Einführung AI Zeitalter & AI-Wednesday Stammtisch

25.5. Women in Data Science (WiDS) Villach Conference 2023

31.5. Connect Day - main matchmaking event of ViennaUP’23

15.6. IMAGINE23 - creative minds - diverse perspectives

For more information on upcoming events head over to our community calendar.

🧑‍💻 Featured Jobs

Once a month we feature selected openings from our job board in this section.

• LIT AI Lab and Institute for Machine Learning: 2 PostDoc positions and 4 Ph.D. positions in “Machine Learning” and “Machine Learning for Life Sciences”

• Silicon Austria Labs: Head of Research Unit – Embedded AI (f/m/d)

Want your job listed? Head over to our Job Board.

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