Unveiling Germany’s AI Landscape: Tina Klüwer’s Journey and Insights

In this episode we welcome Tina Klüwer, currently serving as the Abteilungsleiterin for Technological Sovereignty and Innovation at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), previously directed the K.I.E.Z. Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurship Center of Science & Startups, where our interview took place. She founded and led parlamind GmbH, specializing in AI-driven customer service automation, which successfully exited to VIER.ai. Tina’s career spans pivotal roles including CTO at 4Com GmbH & Co.KG and affiliations with the Icelandic Institute for Intelligent Machines and the University of Potsdam. With a PhD in Computational Linguistics from the Universität des Saarlandes and an MA from the University of Cologne, Tina champions technological sovereignty and innovation. Her journey underscores a commitment to impactful AI solutions and fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems within academia and governmental sectors.

With Tina we dive into Germany’s AI landscape. From trying to understand human thought by replicating it in machines to founding an AI startup in 2014, Tina’s overflowing enthusiasm has always been an asset. We discuss the nuances between academia and startup culture and tackle pressing topics like societal biases mirrored in AI. We touch upon her role in explaining to Germany’s policymakers what AI can and can’t do, as well as the question of whether machines have developed consciousness.