IBM goes FH Burgenland
From left to right: Igor Ivkić, Nico Einsidler, Marco Porak, Rudolf Pailer and Olaf Hahn
When the chess computer "Deep Blue" defeated Garry Kasparov on 11 May 1997, what many had feared had come true: The machine's computing power could not be defeated even by a world champion - at least on the chessboard.
This was a milestone for the developers of artificial intelligence systems, or AI for short. Nowadays, computers can no longer be beaten by chess grandmasters. However, the rapid development of the machine was also evident in other areas and, following the victory of the IBM system "Watson" in the quiz duel "Jeopardy" in 2011, culminated in winning a debating competition on 18 June 2018. Project Debater was able to take on two professional debaters at a press event and outperformed its human opponents in some respects.
Where will this journey take us? And will there be a final battle between man and machine, as depicted in the much-quoted film "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Stanley Kubrick? To answer these questions, Igor Ivkić, head of the Master's degree programme in Cloud Computing Engineering at Burgenland University of Applied Sciences, invited the top management of IBM Austria to Burgenland University of Applied Sciences to present their views to a large audience.
Humans make the decisions
First things first: we are (still) a long way from a dystopian future in which omnipotent machines call the shots. As described above, the technical development is impressive and computer applications are an integral part of our daily lives, but we are only just at the beginning when it comes to so-called "strong AI systems". In most areas of application, we are dealing with "weak AI systems", but we should not be fooled by the name. They can perform cognitive abilities that were once only attributed to humans in a fraction of a second. They recognise images or convert speech into text. These functions also enable medical professionals, for example, to make the right decisions quickly in an emergency situation, as it would often take too long for a human to analyse a patient file. We should therefore see AI as a useful ally rather than a threat. Today's AI systems can analyse large amounts of data very quickly and present it to humans in a compact form. However, a decision based on this data analysis should always be made by a human being. AI itself can only suggest possible paths, but cannot make decisions independently.
The path to quantum superiority
Progress is also steadily increasing in the field of quantum computing. "Eagle", as IBM's new quantum processor is called, is intended to be significantly more powerful than previous systems and herald the path to quantum superiority. Unlike normal computers, which work with bits, i.e. with "one" and "zero", quantum computers work with qubits and can theoretically represent infinite states in between "one" and "zero" - all at the same time. IBM has drawn up a roadmap for this, which holds out the prospect of a quantum computer with 1,121 qubits in the coming year. According to the experts, the associated computing power will herald the next industrial revolution.
With great power comes great responsibility. A saying that IBM is well aware of. At the end of the 2 ½ hour lecture at the Eisenstadt campus of FH Burgenland, it was also necessary to answer the very critical questions from the audience. In particular, the ethical approach to the technology in question led to a lengthy debate and, even if the positive aspects of technological progress predominated, it was recognised that, in case of doubt, it would not take much to turn its benefits into a nightmare for a society. The fact that this has already happened in some parts of the world should give us all pause for thought.
In any case, the fireside chat event at the Burgenland University of Applied Sciences can be described as a complete success and plans are already being made to repeat this event together with IBM and new exciting topics for the future.
Anyone who wants to play an active role in shaping this area will be optimally trained on the CCE degree programme. It is still possible to register to start the course in autumn.
# Gepostet in:
Campusleben,
Masterstudiengang Cloud Computing Engineering,
Informationstechnologie und Informationsmanagement
