Nachrichten – Erasmus Stiftung

science

Artificial Intelligence 9 – „Overcoming“ linguistic diversity

Episode 9 of our series on artificial intelligence is dedicated to overcoming language barriers, an area in which ChatGPT can assist people. According to biblical legend, the many different languages arose when God wanted to punish the people for building the Tower of Babel by „confusing“ their languages (Genesis, chapter 11, 1–9). Whether you believe this or not, the fact is that a total of around 7,000 different languages are spoken on Earth. Most of us speak a little English in addition to English. Some of us know a few bits of school French or Russian. And „Una cerveza, por favor“ might be enough if you want to order a beer in Mallorca.

11 May 2024

science

Green hydrogen – a modern fairy tale for adults

It happened in ancient times, when the Earth was warming up. Summers became hotter, and the ice sheets of the polar regions melted away a little. Immediately, the heralds of wisdom were tasked with naming the culprit. This culprit was quickly found, for it could not defend itself: the malicious, evil CO2. Even though it is only present in homeopathic quantities in the atmosphere and without it plants could not thrive. Without CO2, no life on earth would be possible. But that matters little, CO2 is the culprit. So be it.

9 May 2024

science

Artificial Intelligence 8 – Never Home Alone Again‘

In the previous instalment of our series, we looked at how artificial intelligence can be used to create images. Today, we want to focus on another feature of ChatGPT: supporting people who are alone and feeling lonely. Around five million people in Germany are in need of care, 730,000 of whom live in nursing homes. Life expectancy has been rising for years and medical care continues to advance. People are living longer, often well beyond the age of 80. As a result, the number of people who need support will continue to rise in the future.

6 May 2024

Current issues

The myth of the transport revolution

Around one million electric vehicles are on the road in Germany. Based on the 48.7 million registered cars in Germany, this represents a market share of around 2%. From 2035, no more vehicles with diesel or petrol engines will be allowed to be registered in the EU. That is in eleven years. A lot has to happen between now and then if the transport revolution is to succeed. Of course, the politicians who were involved in the decisions to end fossil fuel technology will probably no longer be in office in 2035. But the decisions will be in force and will bring tears to the eyes of many motorists who are not yet prepared for this.

4 May 2024

science

Artificial Intelligence 7 – Creating images made easy

Now that you know how to write effective prompts, let's take a break from text for a while and apply what we've learned to creating images. Use AI to create images that don't yet exist and that would be impossible or extremely difficult to produce by other means.

26th April 2024

science

Artificial Intelligence 6 – Become a Prompter

Now that you have learned and practised how to write promising prompts, which is probably the most essential tool when working with AI applications, it is time to find out what else this knowledge could bring. You have practised writing prompts, right? Jobs are being lost in the field of AI applications, but entirely new ones are being created. We are only at the beginning of epoch-making changes. Perhaps you can imagine using your acquired knowledge to generate a new profession? The current situation is roughly similar to when calculators were introduced in schools.

24 April 2024

Current issues

Wind power expansion – more questions than answers

Germany is focusing on expanding wind power. The wind turbines installed in recent years are up to 200 metres high, and more and more wind turbines are needed to achieve the German government's ambitious goals, i.e. to compensate for the shutdown of nuclear power and the phasing out of coal. By 2030, offshore wind farms with a capacity of 30 gigawatts are to be built, and by 2045 this figure is set to rise to 70 gigawatts. Rumour has it in the wind power industry that this will require around 7,000 wind turbines the size of the Eiffel Tower. This is approximately 300 metres high, not including antennas.

22 April 2024

Political education

ARD, ZDF and DLF deliver 100 per cent quality journalism End of satire

Much has already been written about the subject of broadcasting fees. Millions of households now refuse to pay the compulsory GEZ fee or make it difficult for the contribution service to collect it by paying slowly, not paying at all, demanding cash payment or even filing a lawsuit. Public service broadcasting (ÖRR) in Germany is financed by a licence fee imposed on every household and institution, regardless of whether they use its services or not.

20 April 2024