Denmark’s new Pioneer Centre for Artificial Intelligence will focus on how fundamental AI research can contribute to solving some of society’s greatest challenges and bring the nation to the forefront of human-centred artificial intelligence.
The Centre is Denmark’s largest research centre for artificial intelligence, and the associated partners involved in the centre from Aalborg University, Aarhus University, DTU, the IT University of Copenhagen and the University of Copenhagen are ready to mark the start of the centre’s development of new platforms, methods, and practices within artificial intelligence in the coming years.
The centre was initiated by Denmark’s Ministry of Higher Education and, from the outset, the ambition has been to conduct fundamental research at the highest international level, with a focus on solving some of society’s greatest challenges.
With Professor Serge Belongie in charge, it’s hoped the centre will give Denmark a forward position within the AI field, says Jens Kehlet Nørskov, chairman of board at the Danish National Research Foundation.
Research with societal impact
Professor Belongie hopes that the centre, with its focus on societal challenges, people and design, will challenge and change the way artificial intelligence creates value for Denmark.
“The unique character of the Pioneer Centre for AI comes through in the way in which we work with the grand challenges,” he said.
“The challenges we will confront are not merely a matter of big data and bigger models; rather, they are high-touch, messy, deeply human problems, for which tech is but one component, situated alongside vital contributions from social science, participatory design, journalism, public policy, and beyond.”
Human-centric AI
According to Joaquin Quiñonero Candela, who delivered the keynote speech at the opening event today, the next frontier to the deployment at scale of AI for the benefit of humankind is not technological but societal and human, and with the new pioneer centre Denmark will play a leading role – both nationally and internationally – in developing human-centric artificial intelligence, he said.
“We must build AI people can trust, and we must develop participatory AI governance so that AI can serve everyone.”
“Denmark has a long tradition of trust in democratic institutions and is a world leader in human-centric design. These two superpowers put Denmark in an excellent position to help guide the design of human-centric AI,” said Mr Candela, a Technical Fellow for AI at LinkedIn.
