Suchen
Sie sind aktuell nicht angemeldet:
Login
Registrierung
A Good Time for AI Optimists
Heilbronn, 27.03.2026 (PresseBox) - Many people are lonely, Germans tend to be pessimistic, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents new challenges for businesses and society. At the end of March at the ?Bürger-Uni? in the auditorium of the ?Bildungscampus?, Prof. Dr Maximilian Lude outlined why there are still reasons for optimism. At the joint event organized by the local newspaper ?Heilbronner Stimme?, the Dieter Schwarz Foundation and TUM Campus Heilbronn, he posed the question: ?Is this the future or can we do without it??
With her opening remarks, host and Professor of Information Systems Luise Pufahl from TUM Campus Heilbronn set the tone for the entertaining evening: ?If you want to get in touch with your bank but end up chatting with chatbots, if you?re trying out an app to learn the piano, or if you?re reading about all the amazing things a new AI can do, you might ask yourself: is this really the future, or is it just a passing fad?? Lude, who works as a lecturer at TUM and as CEO of ?philoneos?, a consultancy firm for family businesses, then took the audience on a journey into the world of AI and demonstrated what it is already capable of today, ?without being able to write a single line of code?.
A Wide Range of Applications
The spectrum of possibilities ranged from AI-generated videos on the Sora platform, through a network of AI agents capable of working autonomously to ?Rentahuman.ai?, where real people lend their bodies to the AI to perform tasks such as collecting parcels. For Lude, this offers many opportunities: at toy manufacturer Mattel, prototypes are now developed within a day based on a sketch; it used to take weeks.
At the same time, he also sees the dangers of disruptive dual-use technology: ?I can use a brick to smash a window or to build a house.? He also believes that the atrophy of one?s own skills is a risk if people rely too heavily on AI. Ultimately, however, he is certain: ?AI makes us more human.? Chefs, for example, would no longer have to deal with routine tasks such as drawing up rota schedules, but could devote themselves entirely to cooking.
It All Starts with the Right Question
For the scientist, one quality is crucial: ?We must learn to ask the right questions.? With a wink, he also suggests a new role within companies: the Chief Question Officer (CQO). He also predicts a new quality label: ?No AI?, because ?people have a longing for people?. Lude attributes the recent wave of redundancies not to AI, but to mismanagement in previous years. On the contrary: companies that use AI statistically create more new jobs.
But where is the journey heading? Reading thoughts and dreams is already possible today. With Organoid Intelligence (OI), brain cells are being cultivated that can master video games such as the ego shooter Doom independently and without prior training. ?Physical AI? enables driverless taxis. He sees one development on the verge of a breakthrough: ?Humanoid robots will have their ChatGPT moment in 2026.? An assistant robot from the Chinese manufacturer Unitree is available for 50,000 euros, but still has its weaknesses, for example when it comes to cooking.
Walking Down the Aisle with AI
Whilst traditional industries are struggling, new areas of application are emerging. ?Loneliness is becoming a market,? Lude is certain. According to a study, 24 per cent of adults feel lonely. Chatbots are replacing therapists and life partners. The scientist cites a worrying example from Japan: there, a woman married an AI named Klaus. People can even develop feelings for lamps if they behave more like living beings rather than purely. ?The world is changing, and so should we ? quickly.? German pessimism is scientifically proven: in Germany, twelve pessimists are equivalent to one optimist. In other countries, the ratio is 2:1.
Lude therefore appeals to the guests: ?I want you to make connections.? Contextual competence is now more important than ever: Fujifilm, for example, produces not only films for cameras but also a skin cream, as the surface of the film is identical to the upper layer of skin. Vorwerk produces not only vacuum cleaners but also the Thermomix and organizes release events.
Three Questions
To ensure the long-term success of family businesses, the researcher recommends a three-pronged approach:
Understanding customers: Synthetic data can mimic customer behavior to 80 per cent. ?With every innovation, it?s about understanding the problem before we generate ideas.?
Tradition: ?Tradition is no guarantee of future viability, but it is a brilliant foundation.? Combining the old with the new, without necessarily having to be the fastest: ?The second mouse gets the cheese.?
Lifelong learning: Knowledge has never become obsolete so quickly. ?We need the ability to learn new things and must stop acting reactively; instead, we must be creative.?
In the concluding Q&A session, moderated by Tobias Wieland, Lude emphasized once again that he is optimistic about the future: ?AI is not an IT issue, but a wide-ranging cultural issue. For this, we need the right mindset.?
The next ?Bürger-Uni? event will take place on 22 July. Prof. Alexander Fekete will be visiting Heilbronn to speak on the topic ?Securing the future: contingency planning for critical infrastructure and civil protection?.
With her opening remarks, host and Professor of Information Systems Luise Pufahl from TUM Campus Heilbronn set the tone for the entertaining evening: ?If you want to get in touch with your bank but end up chatting with chatbots, if you?re trying out an app to learn the piano, or if you?re reading about all the amazing things a new AI can do, you might ask yourself: is this really the future, or is it just a passing fad?? Lude, who works as a lecturer at TUM and as CEO of ?philoneos?, a consultancy firm for family businesses, then took the audience on a journey into the world of AI and demonstrated what it is already capable of today, ?without being able to write a single line of code?.
A Wide Range of Applications
The spectrum of possibilities ranged from AI-generated videos on the Sora platform, through a network of AI agents capable of working autonomously to ?Rentahuman.ai?, where real people lend their bodies to the AI to perform tasks such as collecting parcels. For Lude, this offers many opportunities: at toy manufacturer Mattel, prototypes are now developed within a day based on a sketch; it used to take weeks.
At the same time, he also sees the dangers of disruptive dual-use technology: ?I can use a brick to smash a window or to build a house.? He also believes that the atrophy of one?s own skills is a risk if people rely too heavily on AI. Ultimately, however, he is certain: ?AI makes us more human.? Chefs, for example, would no longer have to deal with routine tasks such as drawing up rota schedules, but could devote themselves entirely to cooking.
It All Starts with the Right Question
For the scientist, one quality is crucial: ?We must learn to ask the right questions.? With a wink, he also suggests a new role within companies: the Chief Question Officer (CQO). He also predicts a new quality label: ?No AI?, because ?people have a longing for people?. Lude attributes the recent wave of redundancies not to AI, but to mismanagement in previous years. On the contrary: companies that use AI statistically create more new jobs.
But where is the journey heading? Reading thoughts and dreams is already possible today. With Organoid Intelligence (OI), brain cells are being cultivated that can master video games such as the ego shooter Doom independently and without prior training. ?Physical AI? enables driverless taxis. He sees one development on the verge of a breakthrough: ?Humanoid robots will have their ChatGPT moment in 2026.? An assistant robot from the Chinese manufacturer Unitree is available for 50,000 euros, but still has its weaknesses, for example when it comes to cooking.
Walking Down the Aisle with AI
Whilst traditional industries are struggling, new areas of application are emerging. ?Loneliness is becoming a market,? Lude is certain. According to a study, 24 per cent of adults feel lonely. Chatbots are replacing therapists and life partners. The scientist cites a worrying example from Japan: there, a woman married an AI named Klaus. People can even develop feelings for lamps if they behave more like living beings rather than purely. ?The world is changing, and so should we ? quickly.? German pessimism is scientifically proven: in Germany, twelve pessimists are equivalent to one optimist. In other countries, the ratio is 2:1.
Lude therefore appeals to the guests: ?I want you to make connections.? Contextual competence is now more important than ever: Fujifilm, for example, produces not only films for cameras but also a skin cream, as the surface of the film is identical to the upper layer of skin. Vorwerk produces not only vacuum cleaners but also the Thermomix and organizes release events.
Three Questions
To ensure the long-term success of family businesses, the researcher recommends a three-pronged approach:
Understanding customers: Synthetic data can mimic customer behavior to 80 per cent. ?With every innovation, it?s about understanding the problem before we generate ideas.?
Tradition: ?Tradition is no guarantee of future viability, but it is a brilliant foundation.? Combining the old with the new, without necessarily having to be the fastest: ?The second mouse gets the cheese.?
Lifelong learning: Knowledge has never become obsolete so quickly. ?We need the ability to learn new things and must stop acting reactively; instead, we must be creative.?
In the concluding Q&A session, moderated by Tobias Wieland, Lude emphasized once again that he is optimistic about the future: ?AI is not an IT issue, but a wide-ranging cultural issue. For this, we need the right mindset.?
The next ?Bürger-Uni? event will take place on 22 July. Prof. Alexander Fekete will be visiting Heilbronn to speak on the topic ?Securing the future: contingency planning for critical infrastructure and civil protection?.