Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and AI Officially Inaugurated

In the presence of NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst MdL and NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes, as well as leading figures from business and academia, the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence was officially inaugurated on September 29, 2022. The new top research institute is shaping a new generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is powerful, sustainable, trustworthy, and safe, contributing to solving central challenges in the economy and society. The Lamarr Institute is one of five university AI competence centers nationwide that have been permanently funded since summer as part of the federal government’s AI strategy.

(Sankt Augustin) Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst MdL: “North Rhine-Westphalia is to become a hotspot for AI research. With the Lamarr Institute, we are taking a big step closer to this goal – here, answers are being worked on for questions about the mobility of tomorrow, innovative production processes, or smart energy supply.” The Prime Minister continued: “No generation before us has been able to draw on as much knowledge and know-how as we can today. And that is why we have every chance of finding good solutions to the questions of our time. Especially Artificial Intelligence creates new opportunities here.” From North Rhine-Westphalia – with locations in Dortmund, Bonn, and Sankt Augustin – internationally recognized scientists are conducting top-level AI research for Germany, Europe, and the world. To this end, the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia are jointly providing around 126 million euros initially until 2028.

The researchers presented their mission and practical results from their research to the public at the inauguration of the Lamarr Institute at the end of September at Schloss Birlinghoven in Sankt Augustin. Judith Pirscher, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF, emphasized: “I am very pleased that we can celebrate a real milestone for AI research in Germany today. The current situation has shown what dependencies on others can lead to; our goal is therefore technological sovereignty in AI. And for that, we need experts like you.”

Securing Technological Sovereignty – Resource-Conserving, Trustworthy, Powerful

The goal of the researchers at the Lamarr Institute is to set new standards in the value-based research and development of extremely powerful and at the same time trustworthy and resource-conserving AI. “One focus that distinguishes the Lamarr Institute is resource-conserving learning. We are working to adapt learned models for energy-saving computer architectures and develop methods whose models require extremely little energy. This requires both a deepening of the subfields of machine learning and interdisciplinary collaboration. That is why we already have numerous internationally renowned colleagues on board, and more will come,” explained Prof. Dr. Katharina Morik, one of the four co-directors of the Lamarr Institute.

The Lamarr Institute is supported by pioneering institutions in the field of Artificial Intelligence: TU Dortmund, the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS, the University of Bonn, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML. The permanent funding enables the establishment of up to eleven new AI professorships at the two partner universities and benefits 32 existing professorships that will be integrated into the new Lamarr Institute as “Principal Investigators” with their research. The research of more than 40 AI professorships is already supported by over 100 scientific staff in 2023, who will acquire academic degrees and professional knowledge within the framework of the Lamarr Institute.

Scientific Excellence, Solid Training, and Trustworthy AI Applications for Businesses

Training the next generation of AI experts plays a central role at the Lamarr Institute – from imparting initial AI knowledge in schools to scientific training at the two partner universities and further education for professionals in companies through the participating Fraunhofer Institutes. Named after the Austrian-American inventor Hedy Lamarr, known for her pioneering work on the precursors of Bluetooth and WLAN, the new institute also places great importance on practical applications: “In addition to research and the solid training of scientific talent, the transfer to industry in the form of knowledge, expertise, and ethically responsible applications is of great significance for our work. Already, our machine learning methods are being used in more than 50 hospitals for diagnosis coding, assist high-speed robots in logistics, or are part of a world-leading AI analysis software,” said co-director Prof. Dr. Stefan Wrobel.

NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes added: “Sustainability and ethics in AI are central themes of the new institute. They are crucial for ensuring that people can trust AI in their daily lives. We are experiencing rapid developments in all areas of life through the use of AI. In doing so, we want to ensure that not only certain business models benefit from AI, but that high ethical standards and sustainability requirements are also met.”

The Lamarr Institute emerges from the previous Competence Center for Machine Learning Rhein-Ruhr (ML2R) and is led by Prof. Dr. Katharina Morik, Prof. Dr. Stefan Wrobel, Prof. Dr. Christian Bauckhage, and Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael ten Hompel.

Photo: © Fraunhofer IAIS/Dirk Baumbach / Image caption: Leading figures from politics, business, and science gathered for the festive inauguration of the Lamarr Institute. Among them (l. to r.) Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael Hoch, Dr. Raoul Klingner, Prof. Dr. Manfred Bayer, NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes, NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst MdL, Prof. Dr. Stefan Wrobel, Prof. Dr. Christian Bauckhage, and Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael ten Hompel.