"AI decisions follow pre-determined tracks"

Claudia Plant: Data mining is a sub field of artificial intelligence and aims to automatically extract knowledge from very large amounts of data. We are collecting huge amounts of data in almost all areas of life today, for example, in medicine or in business. In fact, the data we actually use is only the tip of the iceberg, since the majority of the data collected simply remains unused. My research group explores how we can make accessible personal data, in particular – for example, in the field of medicine – and use them for the benefit of humans to improve treatment options, for instance.

Claudia Plant: Many people fear that they could become transparent beings so to say. With regard to our use of the Internet, this fear is not entirely unjustified: If we want to use apps and services, we first have to agree to the terms of use including all the fine-print, mostly without knowing exactly what we are currently signing up for. With our consent, we practically grant the companies the right to apply certain algorithms to our data.

Claudia Plant: Well, social media have certainly accelerated research in the field of AI. Since we generate and provide a large amount of data every day, it is interesting for companies to tap into these data to fulfil their business goals. We produce such huge amounts of data that we are no longer able to analyse them manually or by using simple statistical methods. To prepare large amounts of data in a way that people are able to understand and use them, we need to make use of algorithms, for example, from the fields of machine learning and data mining.

Claudia Plant: I believe that the term ‘artificial intelligence’ is indeed very unfitting, since the system is neither artificial nor is it particularly intelligent. It has been created by humans and did not develop from itself. AI is based on algorithms that collect data, for example, from the direct environment in case of self-driving cars, and make decisions based on these data. But these decisions are practically pre-determined, since the algorithms have been invented and programmed by humans.

Overall, AI is of course a very complex system, but the individual components follow laws that have been determined by humans. Our current challenge is that deep neural networks consist of comprehensible components but are overall highly complex due to the large number of different components. We are currently exploring how we can understand them again. But I want to emphasise that AI systems are based on algorithms. And all algorithms are based on comprehensible components from mathematics and computer science.

Claudia Plant: My research group mainly develops data mining procedures that could be used in medicine or for renewable energies. In medicine, for example, we can find individualised treatment options for patients. For this purpose, it is necessary to collect a wide range of biological as well as medical data. Renewable energies are an entirely different area of interest. In this field, we attempt to predict how much wind or solar energy we can generate in a certain period. This could help improve the network capacity and would thus enable us to better coordinate the customers’ requirements and the amount of renewable energy produced.

Claudia Plant: We see enormous potential in the life sciences, for example, in the search for new medicinal substances. Ever more accurate measuring instruments enable the life sciences to generate huge amounts of data, which we can search and analyse by means of data mining.

Also in the business sector, of course, plenty of new business models based on the combination of the Internet and artificial intelligence are developing. Unfortunately, Austria and the German-speaking region in general are not playing a key role in this regard. The major Internet corporations are based in the US and Asia. Therefore, I personally find it important to promote our local start-up scene, because we need to develop AI business models based on European values. Otherwise, I see the risk that a very large share of development funds are distributed to few stakeholders, i.e. the major tech companies.

Claudia Plant: I am aware that I only know a small proportion of it all. Therefore, I specialise in certain niches, in which I am actually able to compete internationally in research. At the same time, I only have limited resources and thus investigate issues for which I do not necessarily need to work for a multi-million tech company.

So how do I keep up then? Mainly thanks to the young members on my team, who are practically at the forefront of developing and programming these things. I provide assistance in the process and learn a lot myself in doing so.

Claudia Plant: Yes, especially research on deep neural networks requires enormous amounts of data and computing resources. In comparison to the large tech companies, universities have only limited capacities for GPU clusters. These are computers which are equipped with graphic cards and are able to do a wide range of calculations simultaneously. In addition, tech companies do not always publish their algorithms and data since they are part of their trade secret. It is always alarming when research is not open. The more people are able to actively contribute to research on AI, the better we can ensure that the progress we are making will benefit all of us. We require more diversity in AI research. It is essential that people with different cultural and social backgrounds and gender identities jointly develop AI algorithms.

Claudia Plant: Our University is actually very open to IT topics. This is also evident from the current semester question, which I find wonderful. There are many lectures on the topic. For example, we offered the lecture series "Machines that understand" last semester and the Department of Contemporary History offers a lecture series on the challenges and opportunities with regard to artificial intelligence this semester. These lecture series are open to students of all degree programmes, allowing them to gain a fundamental understanding of the issue and enabling them to later apply this knowledge to societal discussions.

In my opinion, every student should at least know what artificial intelligence is, what algorithms are and which principles they are based on. Of course, I would be happy about one or the other student who has a deeper interest in the issue and embarks on a career in computer science.

Claudia Plant: I say, we do. We can know it, even though it will be difficult since the entire field is so incredibly wide and diverse. But it is all about algorithms, and we are able to understand algorithms . In future, we will see plenty of development cycles and it will be possible in many areas for AI to take decisions that are so accurate that they almost seem like human decisions. In the process, we always need to remain cautious and use AI carefully to the benefit of humans.