Germany has unveiled ambitious plans to revitalize its ailing economy, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and a range of digital solutions to drive mainstream growth across key sectors.
According to a report, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz unveiled the plans during a press conference at the Borsig Palace in Berlin, highlighting 23 major projects aimed at growing the economy. Under the “modernization agenda,” Merz disclosed that the projects will achieve their aim by cutting bureaucracy while making public services more efficient.
At the top of the list is a platform that enables companies to be registered within 24 hours, which German authorities say is a significant step in attracting international players. Furthermore, Merz’s plan will involve the introduction of a centralized online vehicle registration service and a plan to accelerate the recognition of foreign medical qualifications.
AI features prominently in Germany’s modernization agenda, with the government keen on introducing AI-based tools for visa and court processing. The government unveiled plans for an AI-based digital agency to promote trade and foster development cooperation, while supporting the integration of emerging technologies across key sectors of the economy.
Leaning on next-gen solutions, Merz’s modernization agenda includes a direct payment mechanism for federal aid to citizens, sidestepping traditional intermediaries in the value chain. In terms of infrastructure, the plan will back the development of a nuclear fusion reactor while prioritizing hydrogen as an energy resource.
Still the largest economy in Europe, Germany has faced significant headwinds in recent years, aggravated by high energy costs and labor shortages. Excessive bureaucracy has since cost Germany nearly $175 billion over the last year, while a rising dependency on exports has earned it the tag as the “sick man of Europe.”
“We are of course aware of the problems facing the German economy at the moment, but we aspire to return to the top,” said Merz. “We are now going to the German Bundestag with some very concrete legislative proposals.”
Merz disclosed that the government will seek legislative backing for the 23-point digitization plan, eyeing a passage before the end of the year.
Germany plays catch-up to industry first-movers
Before the ambitious digitization plan, Germany ranked lower than the U.S. and the U.K. in terms of AI adoption and development. The German-based state-owned development bank KfW disclosed in a report that the country is falling behind global artificial intelligence leaders, with real-world applications failing to match policy enthusiasm.
To close the gap, Germany’s financial regulator BaFin urged stakeholders to introduce policies to avoid “unnecessary bureaucracy” for AI. Meanwhile, the country has devised an AI investment plan to match the U.S., while regulators are ramping up enforcement actions against data protection violations.
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Trust in generative AI spikes despite leaks in guardrails
A new report by SAS has revealed that consumers are indicating significant trust levels in generative AI systems over other forms of AI despite gaps in safeguards.
The report, titled “The IDC Data and AI Impact Report: The Trust Imperative,” noted that generative AI systems, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Gemini, have earned the trust of a majority of users. However, the report noted that the social familiarity of generative AI systems is a major factor in growing trust levels despite the sector having the lowest investment in trustworthiness.
Apart from generative AI, 33% of respondents indicated complete trust in agentic AI systems, such as AutoGPT. Meanwhile, only 18% confirmed total trust in traditional AI systems despite hefty investments in trustworthiness and reliability.
“Our research shows a contradiction: that forms of AI with humanlike interactivity and social familiarity seem to encourage the greatest trust, regardless of actual reliability or accuracy,” said Kathy Lange, executive at IDC. “As AI providers, professionals and personal users, we must ask: GenAI is trusted, but is it always trustworthy?”
The SAS-backed study noted that companies that prioritize AI trustworthiness are 60% more likely to double their return on investment (ROI) over those without significant investments in the guardrails. Despite the benefits of prioritizing trust, the report noted that only 40% of AI companies are committed to making their systems trustworthy through governance and other ethical safeguards.
Per the report, only 2% of companies are keen on developing an AI governance framework, while less than 10% have a clearly defined AI policy. As consumers increasingly question data handling processes of AI service providers, analysts note that a lack of investment in trustworthiness will affect the profitability of AI companies in the near future.
However, the report highlighted a streak of concerns among organizations keen on prioritizing AI trustworthiness. 49% of respondents said that data foundations are not centralized and non-optimized cloud data environments as a major barrier, while 41% of respondents are pointing to a lack of skilled specialists within their organizations.
“For the good of society, businesses and employees – trust in AI is imperative,” said SAS CTO Bryan Harris. “In order to achieve this, the AI industry must increase the success rate of implementations, humans must critically review AI results, and leadership must empower the workforce with AI.”
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GenAI systems are prone to sycophancy
Several studies have revealed that AI systems have traits of sycophancy, accentuated by a tendency to provide answers based on users’ desires rather than the truth. While the reports did not disclose a solution, researchers have suggested new training systems for large language models (LLMs).
Apart from sycophancy, LLMs are also prone to hallucination, with several responses by leading models containing misleading information presented as fact. Global regulators are tightening the screws for service providers over claims of hallucination as researchers unveil new tools with emerging technologies to detect the problem in AI models.
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Watch: Turning AI into ROI
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Source: https://coingeek.com/germany-embraces-ai-digitization-trust-in-generative-ai-rises/