The TUM Think Tank is setting up a task force to provide orientation and guidance on handling generative artificial intelligence to the policy, administration, community and business sectors. The group, representing various disciplines at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), will formulate regulatory proposals and will facilitate exchange on practical questions.
Astrid Eckert / TUM The development of generative artificial intelligence (AI), i.e. of technologies which can generate texts, images, sounds, computer code or other data themselves, has unleashed an enormously dynamic effect. Many governments, regulatory authorities, companies and users find it difficult to make informed decisions on how these new technologies can be steered and conscientiously applied. Experts even recently called for a minimum six-month cessation in the development of particularly high-performance AI systems. In this context, the TUM Think Tank is setting up an interdisciplinary task force on generative AI.
Formed in 2022, the TUM Think Tank unites science, civil society, the political sector and business to develop proposed solutions and instruments for urgent problems. The Generative AI Task Force plans to provide guidance with three core activities:
"First and foremost, we are concerned with the rapid development of guidelines and regulatory approaches to leverage the innovation potential of generative AI while at the same time dealing with the risks in a responsible manner," says Prof. Urs Gasser, co-chair of the task force and rector of the Munich School of Politics and Public Policy at TUM. "In addition, we also want to provide a forum where practical challenges in dealing with generative AI can be explored in depth together with our experts," adds co-chair Prof. Enkelejda Kasneci. The TUM Think Tank wants civil societal groups, public administration, companies and students to be involved in this exchange.
A third pillar of the task force's activities will be early sensitization to possibly imminent developments in artificial intelligence, with analysis centering not only on the technologies per se, but also on their perception and the forms in which they are used. For this purpose the TUM Think Tank is developing participatory formats together with citizens.
Technology and social sciences
The members of the Gen AI Task Force contribute expertise from a wide variety of perspectives in research on technologies, social sciences, ethics as well as several application areas. These include education, administration, justice, business and health. The founding members are:
- Alena Buyx, Professor for Ethics in Medicine and Health Technologies
- Stefania Centrone, Professor for Philosophy of Science
- Stephanie Combs, Professor for Radiation Oncology
- Annette Diefenthaler, Professor for Design and Transdisciplinarity
- Christian Djeffal, Professor for Law, Science and Technology
- Urs Gasser, Professor for Public Policy, Governance and Innovative Technology
- Matthias Grabmair, Professor for Legal Tech
- Georg Groh, Professor for Social Computing
- Stephan Günnemann, Professor for Data Analytics and Machine Learning
- Dirk Heckmann, Professor for Law and Security in Digitization
- Enkelejda Kasneci, Professor for Human-Centered Technologies for Learning
- Gjergji Kasneci, Professor for Responsible Data Science
- Alexander Pretschner, Professor for Software and Systems Engineering
- Daniel Rückert, Professor for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Medicine
- Astrid Séville, Professor for Political Philosophy and Theory
- Janina Steinert, Professor for Global Health
- Isabell Welpe, Professor for Strategy and Organization
The task force maintains close international exchange with collaborative partners such as the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers.
