Thilo Stadelmann is Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the ZHAW School of Engineering in Winterthur, Switzerland, where he heads the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and its “Computer Vision, Perception & Cognition” research group. He is also co-founder of AlpineAI, a start-up that launches SwissGPT for companies.
Thilo Stadelmann studied computer science in Giessen and Marburg and was awarded his doctorate in 2010 with a thesis on multimedia analysis and voice biometrics at the Philipps University of Marburg. He then worked for several years in the automotive industry in various specialist and management roles on software systems for vehicle development and driver assistance systems.
Thilo Stadelmann lecture topics
Hot topics:
- Agentic AI: Promise and limits.
AI systems recently became “agentic,” upping their capabilities from chat-based Q&A to working on longer-running tasks with certain autonomy, thereby reading and writing lokal files, browsing the web and accessing other software tools. Is this the productivity breakthrough for coding, writing, and general business processes, the conduit for a jobocalypse, or even something different? I give strategic insight based on an explanation of the underlying technology as well as the economics of agents and arrive at conclusions that consider technological souvereignty, human flourishing, and the bottom line.
- Human-AI-Collaboration: The new benchmark.
As AI moves closer to us, into our work, processes, and intimate deliberations, the conversation shifts: Away from the sheer cleverness of models to how our interaction with them can be designed such that we get most out of AI: reliable and sustainably beneficial results for humans. Based on recent research, I give insight into how calibrated trust can be attained in situations where humans and AI systems can be said to work “together,” resulting in meaningful human control through human-AI co-learning. Then, against mounting evidence that prolonged chatbot use can induce negative effects like loss of agency and meaning, I show how AI systems can be designed to measurably further instead of diminish human flourisihing and core capacities, based on pro-human AI design principles.
AI in your Organisation:
- The AI advantage: Strategies for unleashing business value in real-world use cases.
Artificial intelligence is on everyone’s lips. It has proven to be a useful tool on a broad basis, but at the same time it also repeatedly allows itself to have astonishing weaknesses. How does this fit together and what added value can we realistically expect in a professional environment? We approach this topic through in-depth explanations and numerous real-world examples.
- Real life machine learning: How research solves industrial use cases and helps getting along with AI craze.
How can AI solve practical problems? And how can joint innovation projects with partners from practice and academia facilitate solutions that are both novel and practically relevant? We have look at recent results from our own research, delving into solutions, e.g., to roated object recognition, document recognition for technical drawings and other difficult documents, and industrial process monitoring and control. Thus equipped, we venture into an outlook on AI and the human: Where are we heading?
- Artificial Intelligence: A guide.
Artificial intelligence is everywhere. How is it changing our private and professional lives, our society? What are the opportunities and risks, where are the limits and where are the prospects? Should we be worried? Can we hope? In an entertaining, generally understandable and in-depth way, I introduce the topic, explain connections, show examples, create understanding – and inspire hope.
AI and Society:
- Pro-human AI: How to build AI systems for human flourishing.
AI is changing not only the way we work, but also our humanity and personhood. With every interaction with an AI assistant, we learn new behavior patterns, practice response patterns, and unlearn others. Does this help us to develop our full potential? Or does it make us less human, even inhuman? We look at how AI systems can be designed with a pro-human approach so that we as humans can flourish, and take a look at correspondingly positive, livable future scenarios with AI.
- Decoding tomorrow: A vision for a humane future with AI
A hopeful, humane future with AI is possible. One that is decidedly different from the doomsday scenarios that are circulated widely (existential risks, massive job displacement, useless class, et cetera). Have a look at 2035 without ignoring the risks and difficulties of change.
- Artificial Intelligence: A tale of two meanings
How can we make sense of the wildly diverging views on AI’s impact and future depicted in (social) media? Where are we heading, who is right? I suggest that AI is a technology; but it has also become the tag for a certain worldview, both philosophically and economically. Disentangling these meanings offers a way to classify the different opinions, see motivations behind statements, and assign confidence ratings to them. Understanding the worldviews behind AI debates thus enablkes us to take confident decisions in our spheres of influence.
- The most needed commodity today: Hope, and what’s AI got to do with it
Society is in crisis. Environmentally, economically, politically, psychologically. Young people’s mental health suffers an epidemic. At its core is the feeling of helplessness, the sense of lack of self-efficacy and agency with respect to shaping our own future. At the core is a lack of hope. We look at current trends in artificial intelligence with respect to what they contribute to the theme of hope, and how hope can be furthered rather then quenched by AI.
- How not to fear AI
When discussing AI with different people, one topic keeps surfacing: people’s fear of AI. They share their concerns of being displaced in their job by a future chat bot; of becoming so dependent on some system to lose critical skills for mastering their life independently; of losing their very life to an AI overlord turning against them. How warranted are such fears? Or: How sober can we afford to think about one of the most defining trends of our times? I answer that question based on a clear understanding of what AI is and isn’t and where some of the most intimidating ideas on this topic come from.
Thilo Stadelmann: Data-centric Innovation – How can digital innovation succeed, what turns data into gold?
Thilo Stadelmann is a co-founder and board member of the Data Innovation Alliance, the largest innovation network for data-driven value creation in Switzerland, and of the ZHAW Datalab, one of the first dedicated research organisations on data science in Europe, which he led until 2018.
He founded the “Swiss Conference on Data Science” conference series, which brings together more than 600 experts and decision-makers from business and academia every year, and was part of the leadership of his university as the founding scientific director of the strategic digital transformation initiative. His book “Applied Data Science – Lessons Learned for the Data-Driven Business” was published by Springer in 2019.
Thilo Stadelmann is a captivating speaker who inspires his audience. He expertly talks about the background, opportunities and risks of current technology in the field of artificial intelligence, data-driven value creation and digital transformation, explains, demonstrates and shows possibilities for society, organisations and individuals. His concern is to create understanding and reduce unfounded fears so that opportunities can be seized and risks avoided. It doesn’t matter whether the participants are C-level executives, trainees, non-experts or specialists – Thilo Stadelmann skilfully understands how to respond to his audience and touch the right chord.
Thilo Stadelmann is married and the father of a son, a dedicated amateur musician, an avid kitesurfer and passionate about spirituality.