Tag: Artificial Intelligence

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Implementation of the AI Act—What Impact Will the New Regulation Have?

Cover Digitalgespräch Episode 72
Cover Digitalgespräch Episode 72

The EU’s AI Regulation, or “AI Act,” will gradually come into effect starting in early 2025 and already regulates the development and use of AI systems intended for use in Europe. With this comprehensive set of regulations, lawmakers are facing a major challenge. The impact of AI technologies—which are driving massive transformations across national borders—is to be managed through democratic processes to the extent that major risks can be identified and avoided. This approach takes into account that AI is a constantly evolving field and cannot be viewed or assessed in isolation from its context of application. In practice, this also means that both developers and users of AI systems must adapt to new obligations and learn not only to use AI systems appropriately but also to assess their risks in specific individual cases. The AI Act also explicitly calls for the development of specific AI literacy among users. It is clear that new regulations always entail new burdens that companies, government agencies, and civil society must now shoulder. The academic community can also contribute to ensuring that this effort succeeds on a broad scale.

Domenik Wendt is a professor of civil law, European business law, and European law at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and a recognized expert on AI law and the AI Act in particular. In the Digitalgespräch, he explains what the key elements of the AI Act are and which ones are already in effect today. He describes how companies and government agencies are preparing to implement the EU’s requirements and what support is available to help them understand and comply with the AI Act in their own contexts. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Wendt discusses how regulation and capacity-building are intertwined, how it is possible that while the AI Act completely bans certain applications and strictly regulates others, it nevertheless allows more room for innovation and development than some might fear—and whether the AI Act is capable of reducing risks and preventing harm, even in light of the profound societal impacts of AI systems.

Episode 72: Digitalgespräch with Domenik Wendt of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, 18th of November 2025
Transkript zur Folge

Further Information:

To Digitalgespräch Episode 48 “The EU’s AI Act: How it came about and how it regulates AI” with Domenik Wendt : https://zevedi.de/digitalgespraech-048-domenik-wendt-2/

To the AI-Service Desk of the Bundesnetzagentur: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Fachthemen/Digitales/KI/start_ki.html

To the Hint-Paper „KI-Kompetenzen nach Artikel 4 KI-Verordnung“ of the Bundesnetzagentur: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Fachthemen/Digitales/KI/_functions/Hinweispapier.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2

To the Paper „KI-Kompetenzanforderungen nach Art. 4 AI Act. – Juristische Analyse und praxisorientierte Maßnahmen“ with Involvement of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences: https://zenodo.org/records/17407983

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What are AI real-world labs, and what do they do?

Cover Digitalgespräch Episode 71
Cover Digitalgespräch Episode 71

With the AI Act, European lawmakers are attempting a difficult balancing act: On the one hand, effective regulation is needed for high-risk, emerging technologies that are already having significant societal impacts today. On the other hand, Europe should participate in the opportunities presented by these very technological developments—in other words, it should not simply slow them down, but rather shape them. AI real-world labs, or “AI sandboxes,” are intended to be one tool for this regulatory promotion of innovation: They are designed as special testing environments for AI products nearing market readiness, as a regulatory point of contact and source of support for companies and startups—and also as learning environments for the supervisory authorities, which must adapt their administrative processes to the nebulous concept of “AI.” The goal is to learn, both within and through the real-world lab, how to design AI applications in a way that meets the safety requirements of the AI Act, as well as how to intelligently incorporate the relevant testing criteria into administrative processes. This is no easy task for the EU member states, which do not have much time left to implement their first “AI sandboxes”: By August 2, 2026, these new types of regulatory bodies must at least formally exist and be operational.

Johannes Buchheim is a professor of public law and the law of digitalization at Philipps University of Marburg. In this Digitalgespräch, the expert on administrative law and legal frameworks in the digital society explains the role that AI real-world labs play in implementing the AI Act and what measures the EU is requiring its member states to take in this regard. He describes what forms of AI real-world labs might be conceivable for various specific technologies, who is involved in developing these public institutions, and what policymakers hope to achieve through them. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Buchheim discusses what ideas, expectations, and fears might be at play among the stakeholders involved; how the framework conditions for AI real-world labs align with the competitive requirements of commercial enterprises; whether—and if so, under what conditions—participation in real-world labs is attractive to AI developers —and how transparency and disclosure requirements must be used to foster a critical public discourse in order to democratically legitimize this form of government-funded testing of potentially high-risk technologies.

Episode 71: Digitalgespräch with Johannes Buchheim of the Philipps-University Marburg, 28th of October 2025
Transkript zur Folge

Further Information:

To Informations about AI Real-World Labs on the Website of the Bundesnetzagentur: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Fachthemen/Digitales/KI/5_Innovationen/start.html

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Knowledge, Responsibility, Efficiency: The Medical Profession Under the Influence of “Artificial Intelligence”

Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 65 mit Oswald Hasselmann
Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 65 mit Oswald Hasselmann

What we generally refer to as “artificial intelligence” in everyday life has many modes of operation and fields of application. A wide variety of AI systems have also been used routinely in medicine for a long time. They support medical professionals in taking medical histories and making diagnoses, or in the operating room, by supplementing the individual expertise and experience of human experts with statistical analyses and—based on these—recommendations for action. Doctors can use these various sources of information to address the specific needs of their patients individually and provide them with the best possible care. Today, however, it is not only AI products developed specifically for everyday medical practice that play a role; AI systems are also available to patients—mostly in the form of chatbots that simulate human communication and thus reinforce the impression that one is dealing with a system that is “intelligent” in the human sense and can also be consulted regarding medical issues. The hype surrounding these systems has created high expectations regarding medical care: Can “AI”—which is beginning to replace staff in so many other areas and promises increased efficiency—also be a solution to the shortage of medical professionals?

Dr. Oswald Hasselmann is a specialist in pediatrics and adolescent medicine with a focus on neurology; he is a member of the management team at the Eastern Switzerland Children’s Hospital and president of the Swiss Society for Biomedical Ethics. In this Digitalgespräch, the expert on ethical values in the medical professions explains where popular systems like ChatGPT appear in everyday medical practice, how medical AI products are used, what new forms of knowledge are emerging as a result, and how realistic the expectations are that the medical community, policymakers, and patients have for these technologies. Together with hosts Petra Gehring and Marlene Görger, Hasselmann discusses the implications of the normalization of AI use for the competence and responsibility of medical professionals, which new aspects should therefore be incorporated into medical education and continuing education—and whether we must give up the privacy of our health data to support the use of commercial AI products in medical care.

Episode 65 of Digitalgespräch with Oswald Hasselmann of the Swiss Society for Biomedical Ethics,
3rd of June 2025
Transkript zur Folge

Further Information:


To the webseite of the Swiss Society for Biomedical Ethics: https://www.bioethics.ch/sgbe/

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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The EU’s AI Act: How it came about and how it regulates AI

Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 48 mit Domenik Wendt
Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 48 mit Domenik Wendt

With the AI Act, the EU has launched the first comprehensive regulatory framework for “Artificial Intelligence” systems. An ambitious, challenging and urgent endeavour: Rapid technological development is taking place globally, and mostly outside of Europe. AI is already being used in all areas of life, with undeniable economic benefits, but also obvious risks for liberal democracy and its values. Which technologies are considered “Artificial Intelligence”, though, is not clearly defined. Rather, this fuzzy buzzword covers all kinds of IT and robotic systems with capabilities that go beyond those of conventional automation. A legal framework, such as the one that is about to be introduced in Europe, must be wisely drafted and flexible in order to do justice to this complex situation. Has the European AI regulation achieved this?

Domenik Wendt is Professor of Civil Law, European Business Law and European Law at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and an expert on AI law. He has closely followed the development of the AI Act from the very outset, adopting both an academic and a practice-orientated perspective. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, he describes the process the regulation has gone through: From the context of the EU commission’s first initiative and its underlying idea and objective, to the heated discussions between the stakeholders involved with their various interests and basic political stances, to the content of the final draft that is now set to be adopted. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Wendt discusses how the AI Act is perceived and evaluated internationally, whether critics are right to point out weaknesses, and how companies, lawyers and scientists have to take action in order to bring this abstract legal framework into reality.

Episode 48 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Domenik Wendt of Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, 5 March 2024

Further information:

Link to the press release of the Federal Ministry of Justice dated 2 February 2024: https://www.bmj.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2024/0202_KI-VO.html?cms_mtm_campaign=linksFromNewsletter

Website of Research Lab for Law and applied Technologies: https://www.frankfurt-university.de/en/about-us/faculty-3-business-and-law/research-and-transfer/research-labs/rellate/

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Machine learning in environmental monitoring

Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 34 mit Hanna Meyer
Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 34 mit Hanna Meyer

Rapidly advancing climate change has consequences for ecosystems and landscapes. Observing and understanding these changes is crucial for minimizing damage through smart action. Environmental monitoring that provides reliable data on the condition of forests, soils and peatlands – with as few gaps as possible – requires cooperative research which combines knowledge about ecological concepts with modern, computer-aided procedures, providing methods and technologies to extend specific date obtained from certain areas to larger scales: Machine learning techniques can be used to correlate data that foresters, landscape managers, and nature lovers find visible and measurable in the field with satellite and drone imagery of larger spatial areas. In theory, spatial and temporal gaps in the data could be closed using those methods – provided the mathematical models behind them are understood and the initial data with which the “artificial intelligence” learns actually matches the ecological question.

Hanna Meyer is Professor of Remote Sensing and Spatial Modeling at the Institute of Landscape Ecology at the University of Münster. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert explains how environmental computer scientists work and what typical tasks and questions are. She describes what data is needed to correlate satellite and drone imagery with real ecological systems and how machine learning helps to fill gaps in the data. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Meyer discusses what the limits of this mathematical extension of field data are – and the dangers of trusting the models too blindly.

Episode 34 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Hanna Meyer of Universität Münster, 14 March 2023

Further information:

Link to the article “Qualität globaler Umweltkarten auf dem Prüfstand” in wissen|leben (WWU Münster): https://www.uni-muenster.de/news/view.php?cmdid=12772

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Digital credit scoring: How data analytics decide to whom to lend and not to lend money

Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 32 mit Katja Langenbucher
Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 32 mit Katja Langenbucher

When we open a bank account, apply for a loan or sign a mobile phone contract, we are usually asked to agree to a credit check – in Germany for example with Schufa. Those who request such a score about us hope to get a reliable statement about whether we are likely to meet our financial obligations. But how does this information come about? Big Data and Artificial Intelligence make it possible to use completely new strategies for this question, with which more individual, possibly more precise or even “fairer” scores could be created. This is where FinTechs come in, which – unlike Schufa – could basically use our entire digital footprint for their scores: Automated processes find patterns and correlations with which aspects of all areas of life can be translated into financial data. Whether the results, which include not only income and payment behaviour but also musical tastes and jogging routes, always correspond to reality is one question – another is whether personal characteristics play a role that are actually affected by the ban on discrimination. Because, as studies show time and again: AI models seem to systematically discriminate against socially disadvantaged groups. And loan sharks can also profit from this automated perpetuation of social injustice, depending on the legal situation.

Katja Langenbucher is a professor of civil law, commercial law and banking law at the House of Finance at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. One of her research focuses is the usage of artificial intelligence in the financial sector. In this episode of “Digitalgespräch”, the law expert explains the considerations behind the development of new types of AI models for scoring, which problems they raise or might help to solve, and where regulatory needs arise. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Langenbucher discusses differences between scoring providers, also in international comparison, and which justice problems require an open democratic debate, also at the EU level.

Episode 32 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Katja Langenbucher of Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, 31 January 2023

Further information:

Link to Katja Langenbucher’s guest article „KI-basiert ermittelte Kreditausfallrisiken mit Vorsicht zu genießen“ in Börsen-Zeitung: https://www.boersen-zeitung.de/kapitalmarktforschung/ki-basiert-ermittelte-kreditausfallrisiken-mit-vorsicht-zu-geniessen-91ff697a-673e-11ed-a8ee-76a419d2158f

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Fully automated agreements? What are benefits of „Smart Contracts“?

Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 19 mit Nikolas Guggenberger
Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 19 mit Nikolas Guggenberger

Even if not all of us are experts in civil law, we routinely enter into contractual obligations with each other in everyday life. Whether we buy bread rolls, take out life insurance or book a flight – we trust that we can rely on each other. And if something does go wrong, laws or even courts settle the dispute. At first glance, the internet as a market place doesn’t make much of a difference. We simply order online instead of by phone or postcard like our grandparents We click and everything from loans to share purchases is done in a flash. Nothing else changes – right? Perhaps it is worth taking a closer look. Because automation shifts balanced rules in the background of contracts that we often don’t even know about. And the hype surrounding smart contracts shows that digitality may have great potential to change our understanding of mutual obligation. Technology is supposed to make automated contract processing possible that, at least in theory, works without trust – neither in each other nor in governmental institutions. But to what extent would that be progress?

Nikolas Guggenberger researches and teaches at Yale Law School on the automation of law and its impact on society. Previously, the legal scholar was a junior professor at the Institute for Information, Telecommunications and Media Law at the University of Münster. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, Guggenberger explains where digitality makes a difference to our contractual practice and sheds light on the background to the buzzword “smart contract.” With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, he discusses whether sophisticated technology could replace the law and clarifies where German laws set limits to automation that the legal system in the U.S., for example, does not necessarily recognise.

Episode 19 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Nikolas Guggenberger of Yale Law School, 22 March 2022

Further information:

Link to the Information Society Project :
https://law.yale.edu/isp/

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Communicating, progressing, enabling: How does a Digital Minister make politics?

Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 14 mit Kristina Sinemus
Das Coverbild des Digitalgespräch-Podcasts. Folge 14 mit Kristina Sinemus

For a long time, digitalisation was a process that progessed without systematic political control, releasing potential for drastic change in all areas of life. In recent years, however, a political awareness has emerged for the disruptions that have occurred. How effective digital politics can offer steering mechanisms for a digital transformation, fit to harness the potential of digitality for society while at the same time responsibly countering a wide variety of new risks – this itself is subject of political discourse. One strategy can be the introduction of dedicated digital departments or so-called “digital ministries”, which a few federal states have made first attempts on in recent years. Hence, digital politicians are emerging who are the first in their guild to level a completely new field.

Kristina Sinemus is the Hessian Minister for Digital Strategy and Innovation and one of the first dedicated ministers for digital matters in Germany. The professor of public affairs and former entrepreneur took over her newly created office at the end of 2019. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, Sinemus explains how she built up her department with its central tasks in terms of organisation, content and strategy, and what hurdles had to be overcome in the process. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, she discusses how priorities can be set in the complex field of digitisation, what role citizen dialogue plays and how political strategies regarding a state such as Hesse relate to European digital politics.

Episode 14 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Kristina Sinemus, Hessian Minister for Digital Strategy and Innovation, 14 December 2021

Further information:

Link to the Digital Hessen Strategy: https://www.digitalstrategie-hessen.de/dynasite.cfm?dsmid=513901

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Data surgery? Intelligent technology in the operating theatre

The cover image of the Digitalgespräche-podcast. Episode 5 with Stefanie Speidel

In recent years, rapid advances in computer science and AI research have brought an overwhelming variety of technological innovations into the view of policymakers and the public. While promising great benefits and new possibilities, their potential also raises pressing questions – the prediction that AI will change the world is ambivalent. In order to understand how this change is taking place, we need to look into details: What kind of intelligent systems are we talking about in each case? What aims are they developed for, how will they be used, and what role will humans play in those scenari-os? Answers to these questions arise at the interfaces between computer science and our reality of life and are therefore as specific as the resulting AI systems themselves.

One of these interfaces is the field of translational surgical oncology, i.e. the development of AI systems in surgical cancer therapy. Computer scientist Prof. Dr. Stefanie Speidel teaches and researches at the National Center for Tumor Diseases in Dresden and develops intelligent systems for the operating theatre as well as surgical training. In the fifth episode of Digitalgespräch, she explains the tools she and her colleagues are developing, how she is collaborating with scientists and practitioners of other disciplines, as well as patients and industry partners, and clarifies the question of whether human experts or artificial neural networks will make the vital decisions during operations in the future. With ZEVEDI hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring she discusses how physicians and patients can benefit from AI systems, what obstacles have to be overcome during the long development process ahead – but also what active role patients will play in this.

Episode 5 of Digitalgespräch feat. Stefanie Speidel, National Center for Tumor Deseases in Dresden, 20 Juli 2021

Further informationen:
Link to the website of the Department of Translational Surgical Oncology at the NCT/UCC Dresden:
https://www.nct-dresden.de/en/research/departments-and-groups/translational-surgical-oncology.html

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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AI and Finance

The cover image of the Digitalgespräche-podcast. Episode 4 with Florian Möslein

Finance has always been geared to gaining knowledge about economic conditions and developments through skillful analysis of cleverly generated data. Over the centuries, it has undergone a number of innovation processes. We are now in the midst of dynamic developments that are characterized by digitality – and as is the case in many other places, technologies that are counted as artificial intelligence are becoming more and more important. Florian Möslein is a legal scholar who teaches and researches at Philipps University of Marburg. In this fourth episode of “Digitalgespräch”, the expert on digitality and innovation talks about applications of Artificial Intelligence as seen today in the financial markets. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, he discusses the challenges that the digitization of financial markets poses for market participants, politics and society.

Episode 4 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Florian Möslein of Philipps-Universität Marburg, 6 Juli 20211

Further informationen:
Link to Florian Möslein’s department at the University of Marburg:
https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fb01/professuren/zivilrecht/prof-dr-florian-moesleinhttps://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fb01/professuren/zivilrecht/prof-dr-florian-moeslein

Link to Wikipedia article on Gamestop stock affair in early 2021:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameStop_short_squeeze

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.