Initial focus in the field of "medicine, care, health"

With the "Center for Responsible AI Technologies", the participating universities are significantly expanding their existing interdisciplinary cooperation between natural sciences and technology, human and social sciences and philosophy. The pilot project will be launched in the first quarter of 2022. The work of the centre will therefore initially focus on the field of application "medicine, care, health". This research project will identify comparative central philosophical and ethical questions on the basis of use cases for the application of AI in laser therapy for basal cell carcinomas, in endoscopy and in radiology.

In the medium term, further fields of application are to be added in the areas "future of work", "mobility" and "climate, environment". In addition, there are plans to expand the cooperation to include the training of students and the area of scientific communication on the subject of AI. The centre is embedded in an environment of several existing professorships at the three partner universities.

Three new professorships will be created as part of the "Hightech Agenda Bayern".

A professorship for "Theory of Science, Philosophy of Nature and Technology with a Focus on Artificial Intelligence" at the HFPH is dedicated to the philosophical foundations of the relationship between humans and machines. Closely linked to this is the professorship "Ethics of AI in Neuroscience" at TUM, which investigates AI topics from a social science and medical perspective. At the University of Augsburg, the appointment procedure for the professorship “Cyber Security and Safety-Critical Systems” is already underway.

The time is ripe for a “Center for Responsible AI Technologies”

“With the centre, we want to integrate philosophy, ethics and social sciences into AI development right from the start. Philosophy and social sciences must not be operated as a repair shop after the fact. Rather, they must work together with the technical sciences in a targeted manner in order to promote socially responsible innovations and thus also increase social acceptance of AI," emphasises the President of the HFPH, Prof. Dr. Dr Johannes Wallacher.

Further developing artificial intelligence and allowing trust to grow

"With our experienced experts in medicine, information technology and moral theology/ethics, we have the unique opportunity to further develop artificial intelligence, explain it and allow trust to grow. In the "Center for Responsible AI Technologies" we contribute to cyber security and the protection of infrastructure essential to security. Only in this way can AI develop its full innovative power for all areas of society,” says Prof. Dr. Sabine Doering-Manteuffel, President of the University of Augsburg.

"Throughout the entire innovation process, we must develop technologies by incorporating social science expertise in such a way that they are later also socially acceptable and trustworthy," says Prof. Dr. Thomas F. Hofmann, President of the Technical University of Munich.

Further information

Link to the website of the "Center for Responsible AI Technologies": www.center-responsible-ai.de

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With its innovative and forward-looking range of courses, the University of Augsburg is one of the youngest full universities in Bavaria with a focus on medicine. The network idea characterises its profile, and with its interdisciplinary research competence, it makes an important contribution to answering the major complex questions of the present and future. About 20,000 people from Germany and abroad currently study at the centrally located campus of the University of Augsburg, which is located in a green parkland and offers excellent study and research conditions with "short distances". www.uni-augsburg.de

With more than 600 professors, 48,000 students and 11,000 employees, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of the most research-intensive technical universities in Europe. Its focus is on engineering, natural sciences, life sciences and medicine, combined with economics and social sciences. TUM acts as an entrepreneurial university, promoting talent and creating added value for society. It benefits from strong partners in science and business. It is represented worldwide with the TUM Asia campus in Singapore and liaison offices in Brussels, Mumbai, Beijing, San Francisco and São Paulo. Nobel Prize winners and inventors such as Rudolf Diesel, Carl von Linde and Rudolf Mößbauer have conducted research at TUM. In 2006, 2012 and 2019 it was awarded the title of “University of Excellence”. In international rankings, it features regularly among the best universities in Germany. www.tum.de

At the Munich School of Philosophy (HFPH), teachers and students have been facing the challenges of the present and the future together for more than 95 years. The range of courses offered at the state-recognised university, which is supported by the Jesuit Order, includes philosophy degree programmes leading to Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate degrees, as well as part-time continuing education courses leading to a certificate or Master’s degree. Only a few metres from the English Garden, around 600 students find excellent study conditions with modern lecture halls and seminar rooms and a very favourable student - teacher ratio. www.hfph.de