On June 7, Belval hosted the “Elements of AI Closing Conference,” the third and final event, centered around Artificial Intelligence (AI), an immersive half-day bringing together AI enthusiasts and industry professionals to discuss the potential effect of AI across various sectors.
Dr. Serge Linckels, managing director at the Digital Learning Hub DLH, hosted attendees for an insightful discussion on the future of AI. Elisabeth Margue, minister delegate to the prime minister for media and connectivity, delivered the opening speech, stressing the importance of AI education and the national strategy to familiarize at least 1% of Luxembourg’s population with AI principles by 2030. “Today’s audience was introduced to a very important diverse program to dive into research, policy levels, and some general awareness on the importance of AI. We addressed all different types of demands from the audience and it was very enriching, and everybody received important knowledge out of this conference,” said Dr. Linckels.
Stereotypes are useful
Stereotypes in AI image generation can lead to biased and unrealistic representations, perpetuating harmful societal norms. Ann Weber, attachée at the gender equality and diversity ministry, addressed the critical issue of gender stereotypes in generative AI, advocating for more inclusive AI development practices. “I think it’s important for people to see what’s happening in the ministries, in the state, what we work on, what we think about, how we think about AI. And also I think there’s a few private companies here that the public should be aware of. I just think it’s important to benefit the public through useful information surrounding fake AI, harmful content, for people to know the difference,” said Weber
Bee Secure
Steve Muller, cybersecurity specialist at Bee Secure, discussed the intersection of AI and cybersecurity, detailing how AI can enhance cybersecurity measures and vice versa. He spoke on the interplay of cybersecurity and AI. “While most domains profit, or not from AI, cybersecurity also has to give something back to AI, because AI has a whole bunch of issues, cybersecurity issues, which the cybersecurity community needs to tackle in a certain sense. AI has privacy issues, security issues and so on which we need to address in a certain sense” said Muller.
Datasets
Grégory Nain, co-founder and head of operations at DataThings, resumed the sessions by diving into the complexities of datasets in machine learning, emphasizing the need for quality data for effective AI applications. The final presentation followed by Patrick Weber, project manager at the digitilization ministry, focused on AI-led government applications. He showcased how AI is being integrated into public services to enhance efficiency and accessibility.
Integration of AI initiative
Claudine Kariger, senior policy advisor at the state ministry, delivered the closing words, bridging the day’s key takeaways and reinforcing the conference’s alignment with the EU’s Digital Decade ambitions. “The aim for the government was to create wide visibility of this event and also of the fact that the government is supporting and investing in AI literacy for its population. The Closing event of our Elements of AI Luxembourg course allowed us to take a tour on examples of how AI is impacting different areas in our life, cybersecurity and gender bias through false data sets. We had the opportunity to show a number of our AI4Gov AI-led public service applications and to highlight the importance of quality of data. We hope that some “EofAI” learners are motivated to turn to AI or IT study fields. The ones that do not know the “EofAI” program yet are welcome to adhere to our 2025 edition to follow,” said Kariger.
Achievements and future goals
The conference marked the closing event of the third edition of the “Elements of AI course,” a free 8-week program designed to introduce AI to the public. This initiative also aligns with the EU’s AI ambitions and goals to educate the public on AI, a goal Luxembourg supports. By bringing together expertise from various sectors, the event showcased the collaboration essential for navigating the complexities of AI, while benefiting the public on issues that have, and will soon have an even more heavy effect on their daily lives.
