No. 114/2022

so close to viable applications that industry is automatically attracted to it. I think German policy makers should take this on board more. It would also be excellent if other European countries had something like the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship. And we ought to develop initiatives at European level that attract international attention and hit the headlines, for example in the New York Times or the South China Morning Post. How do you envisage an initiative like that? One possibility would be to establish a large- scale research facility, a CERN for AI. That would hit the headlines everywhere and attract talent from all over the world. If you want to have global appeal, you need a beacon that is really big and bright. You are one of the thought leaders in the European AI network CLAIRE (Confeder- ation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelli- gence Research in Europe). What would be the benefit of a large-scale research facility à la CERN? Our diversity and our network in many countries are amongst the great locational advantages we have in Europe. We need to expand that. But a network like that also needs a hub where activities are bundled and concentrated. Work at CERN is not restricted to operating a large particle accelerator, it’s also about people exchanging ideas there, which is very important for science. Lots of things are easier and more achievable when people are in close proximity. The pandemic has made this even clearer. CERN has the large particle accelerator. What infrastructure would the European AI centre need? A giant computer? Absolutely! We need a whole network of AI computers: a major network hub at European level, then slightly smaller ones in the indi­ vidual countries and additional capacities at the respective sites. As a Humboldt Professor in Aachen, I am currently investing a million euros in a mainframe computer. For some of the research we do we need our own computers that we can control completely ourselves. But beyond that, we need capacity that our one research group could never afford. How optimistic are you that even more money will be invested in AI research in Europe? I believe there’s no alternative. In my view, AI is the key to the next generation of science and thus the driver of progress in many areas. If we fall behind now, we’ll get left behind, both in terms of research and then later, the quality of life of our citizens. Interview by GEORG SCHOLL AI IS THE KEY TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE. IF WE FALL BEHIND NOW, WE’LL GET LEFT BEHIND.” “ 23 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 114/2022