There is hardly an area which has not undergone major transformation as a result of AI-based technologies: from the production of goods and logistics to medical technology. Artificial intelligence is already a part of our everyday lives. In the next few years, AI researchers will create the prerequisites for countless other innovations.

The research being conducted at the new center is expected to cover the entire spectrum of hardware support, device communication and AI concepts, and to transfer this knowledge for practical use. Here, a special focus lies in the explainability and efficiency of AI technologies. Moreover, the question is being raised as to how the enormous amount of data can be processed as AI usage increases. Today, this data is often saved in huge cloud servers in foreign countries. However, AI technologies for autonomous driving or intelligent household appliances need local computing power in order to facilitate secure and efficient collaboration between humans and machines. For this reason, small data is another important topic which will be addressed by the researchers at the CEE AI.

At the inaugural event, the president of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Prof Reimund Neugebauer, and the rector of TU Dresden, Prof. Hans Müller-Steinhagen, signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the founding of the Center for Explainable and Efficient AI Technologies (CEE AI). The CEE AI will initially coordinate the existing AI research organizations and industry partners as a virtual research center. In the near future, the center is expected to get its own offices and new personnel.

Expansion of a strategically important research field

The Center for Explainable and Efficient AI Technologies CEE AI is a joint effort of the TU Dresden and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. The center involves the excellence cluster from the Center for Tactile Internet CETI and other academic chairs at the technical university TU Dresden. It receives support from Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in the CEE AI through the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems (IAIS), with its new institute location in Dresden, in conjunction with Fraunhofer IWU, the recently founded Fraunhofer CPS, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits’ IIS Division for Engineering of Adaptive Systems EAS, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Traffic and Infrastructure Systems IVI.

The joint center is a regional hub for activities associated with artificial intelligence, thereby reinforcing, among other things, the fields of mechanical engineering and microelectronics, which are represented in high numbers in Dresden. The focus of the CEE AI in terms of topics is on the areas of »explainable AI« - especially knowledge engineering - and »efficient AI« with a focus on high performance computing, big data, and the efficient integration of AI algorithms in companies’ internal hardware systems.

The center is being led by Prof. Dr. Frank Fitzek from TU Dresden and Prof. Dr. Jens Lehmann from Fraunhofer IAIS. With the establishment of a new location for the institute, Fraunhofer IAIS is bringing its leading expertise in the development of artificial intelligence to the region of Dresden. The research focus of the new group involving Prof. Dr. Jens Lehmann is on the area of »conversational AI«, which concerns the development of intelligent dialog systems, especially those which will be used in companies.