The Aspen Institute Germany held its third annual AI Conference over the course of one week from December 7-11, 2020. During the Aspen Berlin AI Week, participants from across the world came together in a virtual setting for discussion formats including keynotes, two-on-one conversations, panel discussions, and seminars taking place in both English and German.
The triple crises in 2020 represent a stresstest for societies, economies and governments around the globe. The impact of COVID-19 is speeding-up current technological and societal trends; it is blurring the lines between home and work; highlighting income, social, racial, and inter-generational inequalities; and it is further polarizing politics. At the same time, AI/ML tools can play an important role in helping combat not only the current crises, but also the many challenges ahead. In the midst of these developments, the EU – under the German Council Presidency – has put the issue of digital sovereignty at the top of its agenda. This conference dived deeper into the debate around key policy questions and the economic risks and opportunities of AI. What lessons has the pandemic taught us about global AI dynamics? How will companies and societies manage increased pressure amid the race for AI technologies? How have labor markets and educational institutions responded to these developments? Will massive tech-driven productivity gains require changes to prevailing social and economic programs? We explored these and more questions with top policymakers, innovators, philosophers, academics, and representatives from business, media, and civil society at #AspenAI20.
Please find the English version of the conference report here.
The German version of the conference report can be found here.
Speakers & Moderators
- David Autor
- Ford Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Tyson Barker
- Head, Technology and Global Affairs Program, DGAP
- Andre Baumann
- Representative of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the Federal Government
- Michael Betancourt
- Professor of Motion Media Design, Savannah College of Art and Design
- Björn Böhning
- Permanent State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany
- Roger Bootle
- Chairman, Capital Economics; Author, The AI Economy: Work, Wealth and Welfare in the Robot Age
- Mario Brandenburg
- Member of the Bundestag (FDP); Speaker, AI Enquete Commission
- Janosch Delcker
- Technology Journalist
- Heinz Dürr
- Chairman, Heinz and Heide Dürr Foundation
- Saskia Esken
- Co-Chair, Social Democratic Party (SPD); Member of the Bundestag
- Martin Ford
- Author and Futurist
- Ulrike Franke
- Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations
- Carl Benedikt Frey
- Oxford Martin Citi Fellow, University of Oxford; Author, The Technology Gap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation
- Wendy Hall
- Regius Professor of Computer Science, University of Southampton
- Isabella Hermann
- Research Coordinator of the Project “Responsibility: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence,” Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
- Henning Hoff
- Executive Director, Internationale Politik Quarterly
- Yvonne Hofstetter
- Professor Of Digitization and Society, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences
- Tobias Jerzewski
- Program Officer, Aspen Institute Germany
- Casper Klynge
- Vice President, European Government Affairs Microsoft Corporation
- Olivia Knodt
- Program Officer, Aspen Institute Germany
- Jana Koehler
- Scientific Director of the Algorithmic Business and Production Research Department, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)
- Pavel Konečný
- CEO, Neuron Soundware
- Janina Kugel
- Board of Directors, Konecranes; Senior Advisor, BCG; Senior Advisor, EQT Group; Former CHRO, Siemens AG
- Michaela Küfner
- Chief Political Editor, Deutsche Welle (DW)
- Rüdiger Lentz
- Former Executive Director, Aspen Institute Germany
- Andreas Liebl
- Managing Director at UnternehmerTUM, appliedAI Initiative
- Anna Lukasson-Herzig
- Founder and CEO, Nyris
- Leif-Nissen Lundbæk
- Co-Founder and CEO, XAIN AG
- Eva Maydell
- Member of the European Parliament
EPP Coordinator for the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age 
- Member of the European Parliament
- Anja Mihr
- DAAD Visiting Professor, Politics and Security Program, OSCE Academy Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Founder and Program Director, Center on Governance through Human Rights, Humboldt-Viadrina Governance Platform Berlin
- Stormy-Annika Mildner
- Executive Director, Aspen Institute Germany
- Annette Mühlberg
- Head of Task Force „Digitization”, United Services Union (ver.di); Vice Chair, Internet Governance Forum Deutschland e.V. (i.Gr) IGF-D
- Günther H. Oettinger
- Former European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society; Former Minister-President, Baden-Württemberg
- Sara Polak
- Founder, Anthropologica; Co-Founder, Innovation Disrupt; Communications, prg.ai
- Tobias Rees
- Reid Hoffman Professor of Humanities, Parsons/The New School; Founding Director, Transformations of the Human Program, Berggruen Institute
- Nadine Schön
- Member of the Bundestag (CDU)
- Dagmar Schuller
- CEO and co-founder, audEERING
- Asun Lera St. Clair
- Program Director for Digital Assurance, DNV GL Group Technology and Research
- Andy Stern
- Co-founder, Workers Benefit Fund; President Emeritus, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
- Johann Strauss
- Director, Technology Alliances, Dell Technologies
- Mustafa Suleyman
- Vice-President AI Policy, Google
- Jaan Tallinn
- Founding Engineer, Skype and Kazaa; Co-founder, the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the Future of Life Institute
- Hinrich Thölken
- Director for Climate and Energy Policy and Digital Transformation, German Federal Foreign Office
- Johannes Vogel
- Member of the Bundestag (FDP)
- Andrew W. Wyckoff
- Director, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD
- Karen Yeung
- Interdisciplinary Professorial Fellow in Law, Ethics and Informatics, Birmingham Law School
Please find the speaker biographies here.
Agenda
Day 1: December 7, 2020
| 15:00 – 15:15 | Welcome Remarks by Rüdiger Lentz, Former Executive Director, Aspen Institute Germany; Andre Baumann, Representative of the state of Baden-Württemberg to the Federal Government and Heinz Dürr, Chairman of the Heinz and Heide Dürr Foundation |
| 15:15 – 16:00 | Opening Conversation (EN) with Jaan Tallinn, Founding Engineer, Skype and Kazaa; Co-founder, the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the Future of Life Institute Moderated by Ulrike Franke, Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations |
| 16:05 – 17:05 | AI Typhoons and Tech Tycoons: Channeling New Forces into Economic Productivity and Inclusive Growth (EN) with Björn Böhning, Permanent State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany Carl Benedikt Frey, Oxford Martin Citi Fellow, University of Oxford; Author, The Technology Gap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation Casper Klynge, Vice President, European Government Affairs Microsoft Corporation Eva Maydell, Member of the European Parliament; EPP Coordinator for the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age Andrew W. Wyckoff, Director, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD Moderated by Stormy-Annika Mildner, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Germany |
| 17:10 – 18:00 | Startup “Lightning Talks” with Anna Lukasson-Herzig, Founder and CEO, Nyris; Pavel Konečný, CEO of Neuron Soundware; Dagmar Schuller, CEO and Co-founder, audEERING; Leif-Nissen Lundbæk, Co-founder and CEO, XAIN AG Moderated by Rüdiger Lentz, former Executive Director, Aspen Institute Germany |
Day 2: December 8, 2020
| 15:00 – 15:45 | A Conversation (DE) with Saskia Esken, Co-Chair, Social Democratic Party (SPD); Member of the Bundestag Moderated by Michaela Küfner, Chief Political Editor, Deutsche Welle |
| 15:50 – 16:50 | From Proletariat to Precariat? Labor in the Age of Automation (EN) with Janina Kugel, Board Member, Advisor and Speaker; Former CHRO, Siemens AG Johannes Vogel, Member of the Bundestag (FDP) Andy Stern, Co-founder, Workers Benefit Fund; President Emeritus, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Roger Bootle, Chairman, Capital Economics; Author, The AI Economy: Work, Wealth and Welfare in the Robot Age Moderated by Michaela Küfner, Chief Political Editor, Deutsche Welle |
| 16:55 – 17:55 | Seminar (EN) on “AI: Cultural Impacts and Impediments to the Post-Labor Society” with Michael Betancourt, Professor of Motion Media Design, Savannah College of Art and Design Moderated by Sara Polak, Founder, Anthropologica; Co-Founder, Innovation Disrupt; Communications, prg.ai |
Day 3: December 9, 2020
| 15:00 – 15:45 | A Keynote Presentation on “Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Revolution” (DE) by Jana Koehler, Scientific Director of the Algorithmic Business and Production Research Department, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) |
| 15:50 – 16:50 | Panel Discussion: Big Players, Startups, and the Innovation Paradox (DE) with Anna Lukasson-Herzig, Founder and CEO, Nyris Nadine Schön, Member of the Bundestag (CDU) Dagmar Schuller, CEO and co-founder, audEERING Johann Strauss, Director, Technology Alliances, Dell Technologies Moderated by Tyson Barker, Head, Technology and Global Affairs Program, DGAP |
| 16:55 – 17:40 | A Conversation (EN) with Mustafa Suleyman, Vice-President AI Policy, Google Moderated by Jana Koehler, Scientific Director of the Algorithmic Business and Production Research Department, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) |
Day 4: December 10, 2020
| 15:00 – 15:45 | Keynote Remarks (EN) by David Autor, Ford Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 15:50 – 16:50 | Still Processing? The German Council Presidency and Europe’s Quest for Digital Sovereignty (DE) with Mario Brandenburg, Member of the Bundestag (FDP); Speaker, AI Enquete Commission Yvonne Hofstetter, Professor of Digitization and Society, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences Andreas Liebl, Managing Director at UnternehmerTUM, appliedAI Initiative Annette Mühlberg, Head of task force “Digitization”, ver.di; Vice Chair, Internet Governance Forum Deutschland e.V. (i.Gr) IGF-D Hinrich Thölken, Director for Climate and Energy Policy and Digital Transformation, German Federal Foreign Office Moderated by Henning Hoff, Executive Editor, Internationale Politik Quarterly |
| 16:55 – 17:40 | A Conversation (DE) with Günther H. Oettinger, Former European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society; Former Minister-President, Baden-Württemberg Moderated by Janosch Delcker, Technology Journalist |
Day 5: December 11, 2020
| 15:00 – 15:45 | Two-on-One Conversation on “How AI Challenges our Understanding of Humanity and Human Rights” (EN) with Tobias Rees, Founding Director, Transformations of the Human Program, Berggruen Institute Karen Yeung, Interdisciplinary Professorial Fellow in Law, Ethics and Informatics, Birmingham Law School Moderated by Anja Mihr, DAAD Visiting Professor, Politics and Security Program, OSCE Academy Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Founder and Program Director, Center on Governance through Human Rights, Humboldt-Viadrina Governance Platform Berlin |
| 15:50 – 16:35 | Seminar (EN) on “Trustworthy Human-AI interrelations” with Asun Lera St.Clair, Senior Principal Scientist, AI Governance, Ethics & Society, DNV GL |
| 16:40 – 17:25 | Closing Two-on-One Conversation (EN) with Martin Ford, Author and Futurist Wendy Hall, Regius Professor of Computer Science, University of Southampton Moderated by Isabella Hermann, Research Coordinator of the Project “Responsibility: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence,” Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities |
| 17:25 – 17:30 | Closing Remarks |
