Artificial intelligence
Microsoft: AI ready for industrial production processes
The software company Microsoft is one of the leading providers of AI systems worldwide. photo
© Oliver Berg/dpa
Microsoft is investing billions in artificial intelligence. But are AI systems already resilient enough to be used on a large scale in industry?
According to the software company, systems with artificial intelligence are Microsoft is now so mature that it can be integrated into industrial production processes. “It’s no longer about being amazed at what technology can do,” Microsoft manager Florian Deter told the German Press Agency at the start of the Hannover Messe.
The aim now is to make a concrete value contribution with the help of AI. “In order to achieve this goal, AI must now leave the laboratories and find its way into the engine room of the German economy,” said Deter, who is responsible for major customer business in the management of Microsoft Germany.
The use of AI in industry is not just about increasing productivity, but also about issues such as reliability and occupational safety, said the manager. Germany is in a very good position to benefit from the coming changes caused by AI technologies.
“This is not just due to the very strong industrial base. Germany is very strong in basic AI research and is one of the world’s leading AI patent applicants.” Several AI clusters have emerged in this country, including Tübingen, Dresden, Heilbronn and Munich. According to various rankings, for example from the OECD, the TU Munich is one of the AI institutes with the strongest research in the world.
Deter: AI as a key technology for sustainable growth
According to Deter’s assessment, AI can develop into a key technology for sustainable growth in Germany. To do this, however, the traditional know-how of German industry, which has been built up over decades, must be linked to the new AI technologies. “It can then also be possible to transfer strong basic research into marketable products. AI can also help to compensate for certain weaknesses in the location and, for example, to cushion the shortage of skilled workers.”
Along with Google, Meta and Amazon, Microsoft is one of the leading providers of AI systems worldwide, also because Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella invested billions early on in a comprehensive cooperation with the Californian AI start-up OpenAI and the chat robot ChatGPT developed there.
At the Hannover Messe, Microsoft is also showing integrations with language models that do not come from OpenAI, such as Mistral from France. Industrial companies could be enabled to create their own AI co-pilots. These are also suitable for handling sensitive data that may not be made public.