AI Days broadens the view of AI – and offers insights into the future: “AI is here to stay”

This week, AI Days at Örebro University offered seminars, workshops, exhibitions and presentations related to artificial intelligence. An important aim of the event was to show that AI is not an isolated technology but a tool that affects many areas of society. That is why the AI Days highlighted seven themes, from “AI and lifelong learning” to “AI and music” and “AI and law”.

“If someone asked me whether AI is hyped, my answer would be yes. If they asked me again, my answer would be no. To get to the bottom of this question, we need knowledge; we need to examine the issue scientifically – and that is why we are organising AI Days,” says Amy Loutfi, Professor of Computer Science and Director of the AI, Robotics and Cybersecurity Centre, continuing:

“We want to invite people to engage in conversation and discussion, and to provide information about the latest research findings. AI is being discussed everywhere today, but in the future, it will be much more in the background, just like digitalisation. If we go back to the dotcom era, certain aspects were hyped, but that didn’t mean the internet disappeared. I think it’s the same with AI. AI is here to stay; it’s part of our everyday lives,” says Amy Loutfi.

What do you hope visitors will take away from AI Days?

“On the one hand, they recognise the breadth of the issue, that AI can be addressed from many different perspectives. On the other hand, they understand the role of higher education institutions. We’re an important social actor in spreading knowledge. People can come here to stay up to date on developments and discuss and debate issues. It’s important that we don’t always agree, but that we create a place for debate and discussion,” says Amy Loutfi.

“Science is complicated – for every new answer, we also find ten new questions”

One of the speakers at the event was Alberto Giaretta, senior lecturer in computer science at Örebro University. On Tuesday, he discussed how he increased the number of students in his professional course from 5 to 250. On Thursday, he was responsible for the theme “AI and cyber security”, which highlighted how AI can be used both as a tool and as a threat to cyber security.

“An event like this gives us researchers the opportunity to meet the public and to pause and reflect on what we have been doing recently. What have we developed? Where are we headed? What is our role in society?” says Alberto Giaretta, continuing:

“One of the most important things I hope people take away from here is an understanding that science is complicated. We humans often want a black-and-white answer, either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, and I know that some people can get frustrated when researchers say, ‘it depends’. But that’s the reality of the situation; in science, there are very few black-and-white answers – and for every new answer, we also find ten new questions,” says Alberto Giaretta.

“You’re researching the future, and I need to know which direction the future is taking”

Hans Sollerman, who works at Svanberg Invest, was in the audience. For him, AI Days was an opportunity to learn about emerging AI trends.

“For us in business, it’s important to listen to what you’re doing at the university. You’re researching the future, and I need to know where it’s headed. All successful entrepreneurship is about analysing the future and understanding how our customers will buy our products and services in three years. To understand this, you need to be at the university and listen to the students and researchers working there. It’s really exciting,” says Hans Sollerman.

During the AI Days, the temporary exhibition “Connected Intelligence: An Evolution” was also on display, taking visitors on a journey from the earliest forms of wired telephony, through the emergence of computerisation and the breakthrough of internet technology, to today’s advanced robotics with integrated artificial intelligence.