Reliable technology, industrial data, European cooperation – this is the threefold of Germany’s plan to make up lost ground in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

All over the world, advances in artificial intelligence are changing entire industries. At the same time, however, none of the leading AI programs come from Germany – the market is dominated by a few companies from the US and China.

“The truth is that there has been very little progress for a long time,” said Olaf Scholz at the federal government’s annual summit on the digital industry in Frankfurt, adding, however, that in Germany there is still “ingenuity, innovation, as well as a willingness to slavery”.

In Frankfurt, the ministers of the governing coalition presented Germany’s plan: in the medium term, the goal is to make the country technologically autonomous, i.e. not dependent on foreign technological giants.

No German breakthrough software

Research into artificial intelligence began as early as the middle of the 20th century – and researchers from Germany have been repeatedly awarded for their pioneering work.

Today, however, none of the cutting-edge software comes from Germany, which highlights a major problem according to analysts: Germany contributes to global research in the field of IT, but this rarely leads to the development of practical applications.

According to Scholtz in Frankfurt, one reason for this is that many companies do not have the necessary capital to grow from one point on. In order to make Germany therefore technologically independent, there will have to be more investment.

TN is growing in popularity

According to the findings of a study presented by Bitkom in Frankfurt, people in Germany increasingly see AI as an opportunity, rather than a threat. In addition, 20% of surveyed businesses in Germany state that they are leveraging some application of artificial intelligence, while start-ups in the IT sector have grown by 35% in the last year.

All this is, among other things, the result of initiatives such as ZUKIPRO (Future Center for Human-Centered AI in Production Work), which are funded by the state. ZUKIPRO for example, which is a network of researchers, technicians and trainers, advises small and medium enterprises and crafts on how they can take advantage of artificial intelligence applications.

“Businesses are primarily hoping to reduce costs and increase their efficiency,” Estela Landau from ZUKIPRO explains to DW, adding that “there are many businesses that are interested in AI, but they don’t know exactly how to use it, they feel an uncertainty and that’s why they are also looking for advice”.

US providers dominate

A very large proportion of the IT applications used by German companies come from US providers such as Microsoft and Google – which begs the question: exactly how much does Germany benefit from this situation in its quest to become more independent?

“This is a medium-term strategy,” says Economy Minister Robert Hambeck in a related question from DW. As the German politician also points out, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both in politics and in industry there has been a greater awareness of the country’s technological autonomy – and according to the Ministry of Economy “European and German technology is progressing”.

The importance of data from industry

Habeck set as a cornerstone of Germany’s strategy for AI and the exploitation of data by industry.

“German businesses have real treasure troves of data,” the Green politician pointed out. This data will allow the country to come back to the fore and develop new systems that can take on and carry out increasingly specialized tasks. However, cooperation at the European level will also be of decisive importance, as Hambek emphasized.

European cooperation around IT

In the context of a broader European strategy, Germany will seek to lead in particular in the field of “trusted” artificial intelligence: technologies that will give a strong basis to the rights of users and therefore enjoy greater trust compared to applications of companies from abroad .

On August 1st, the EU’s “Artificial Intelligence Regulation” entered into force, under which a fairly strict framework is being formed – the most crucial at this stage, according to industry representatives, is to completely clarify the regulatory framework applicable to the businesses.

The representatives of the German government in Frankfurt assured that this will be done immediately. They underlined that the overall approach is the right one, in order to enable Germany to become much more competitive on the international stage in the field of IT. “We have to take a different strategy than the American business,” Hambeck said.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas