AI increasingly augments research practices, redefines scientific workflows, and evolves teaching and training—requiring new skills, ethical frameworks, and collaborative infrastructures across disciplines.

Join us on March 12 for Kristian Kersting’s lecture, Reasonable AI!

The relationship between humans and machines, especially in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI), is shaped by hopes, concerns, and moral questions. On the one hand, advances in AI offer great promise: it can help us solve complex problems, improve healthcare, streamline workflows, and much more. Yet there are legitimate concerns about control over this technology, its potential impact on jobs and society, and ethical issues related to discrimination and the loss of human autonomy. In the talk, I explore and illustrate the complex tension between innovation and moral responsibility in AI research. The focus will be on a vision of AI that combines the intuitive learning of Kahneman’s System 1 with the reflective thinking of System 2, enabling AI systems that not only recognize but also understand.

About

Prof. Dr. Kristian Kersting is a co-director of the Hessian Center for AI (hessian.AI), head of the research department “Foundations of Systemic AI” at the German Research Center for AI (DFKI), and a professor of AI and Machine Learning at TU Darmstadt. After receiving his PhD at the University of Freiburg in 2006, he was with MIT, Fraunhofer IAIS, the University of Bonn, and TU Dortmund University. He is a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of AI (AAAI), the European Association for AI (EurAI), and the European Lab for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), a book author (“How Machines Learn”), and received the inaugural German AI Award 2019. He wrote a regular AI column in the German newspaper Welt (am Sonntag).

Hybrid Event

Whether you’re a student or simply interested in how Artificial Intelligence is changing science and engineering practices–this lecture series is open to everyone:

• We look forward to meeting you in person in TU Wien’s beautiful Festsaal at 1040 Vienna, Karlsplatz 13, 1st floor, room AA0148.
• If you can’t make it person, switch on your laptop and join us via Zoom (Meeting ID: 661 3918 8284, Passcode: serwyN6e).

Public Lecture Series AI in Science and Engineering

Our public lecture series AI in Science and Engineering explores how AI is transforming these disciplines. Bringing together computer science, mathematics, engineering, and science in general, the series highlights how AI is reshaping discovery, design, and deployment in science and engineering.

Engaging with these changes is essential: AI already permeates daily life and has fundamentally altered how science and engineering are practiced, from data collection and analysis to experiment design, simulation, and validation. Understanding AI’s capabilities and limits helps researchers build systems that are safe, robust, and equitable. It also informs how we teach and train the next generation—integrating responsible innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration so that the scientific and engineering communities can advance AI that serves people and strengthens the foundations of science and engineering.

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