Machine learning lectures – a “downer”!

𝗡𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗹 – 𝗱𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘁, 𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀-𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗥𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗻 😂!

One student commented that the current topics and developments (technical, ethical, political, legal, etc.) had always “dragged him down” in many respects.

The expectation of the topic of “machine learning and AI” was probably something between cool, modern, innovative, a bit of magic and computer scientist woodoo. Great tools, APIs, solutions, everything works automatically, the AI will sort it out.

Of course that was the case. But…

… 𝘇𝘂𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝘇 𝘃𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗜 𝗴𝗲𝗵𝗼̈𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝘂𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘂𝗰𝗵, 𝗱𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗻. 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝘄𝗼𝗵𝗹 𝗶𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺, 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻, 𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝗯𝘁 𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗵𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗻:

– 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻 are made “elsewhere”, but not here. This means that AI is also being developed “elsewhere”
– 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗵𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻 are repealed in the USA, the EU (still) upholds the AI Act, but the bottom line is that it is all very unsatisfactory
– 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗵𝘂𝘁𝘇 are unclear and in many cases not addressed
– AI systems are not “𝗲𝗿𝗸𝗹𝗮̈𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗿”, i.e.h. algorithmic methods can no longer be used to prove / evaluate, understand whether the results are correct at all and how they came about
– a true 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘄𝘂𝗰𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗻 “𝗞𝗜-𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗸𝘇𝗲𝘂𝗴𝗲𝗻” has emerged, which is almost unmanageable for users and developers
– 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁- 𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝘀𝘀-𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻 often lead to AI not being used effectively

And yes, we had to discuss one of these topics in almost every lecture. That can be a real “downer”.

I’m sorry about that – um. No, I’m not!

Because only if we know and accept the framework conditions can we design meaningful AI or machine learning applications and start working our magic with all our computer science goodies. It’s understandable that the current global and geopolitical situation can sometimes “get you down” when it comes to AI.

𝗘𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗳𝘁 𝗻𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘁. 𝗞𝗜 𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗿, 𝗞𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗻, 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 – 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗸𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗺 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻.

Don’t put on a show, don’t talk nonsense! Don’t raise false hopes. Instead, develop sensible and clean solutions!