Past TEDAI Vienna talks

Technology is changing our world — and how we communicate — at an astonishing rate. So much so that entrepreneur Victor Riparbelli predicts that artificial intelligence will drive audio and video to replace text as our primary form of communication by the end of this decade. He imagines a world where anyone can create a Hollywood film, receive personalized education or communicate via hyper-realistic avatars — all in the time it takes to read a book.

A nightmare scenario happened to politician Cara Hunter: just weeks before her election, she became the victim of a deepfake scam that threatened to upend her life and career. In a fearless talk, she explores AI's potential to undermine truth and democracy — and offers a path forward to harness this powerful technology as a force for good. (This talk contains mature language.

Scientists are getting closer to giving humans the power to communicate with their thoughts alone. In a live demo, researcher Chin-Teng Lin shows how brain-computer interfaces can translate a person's neural signals into text on a computer, potentially opening up a new realm of communication that turns silent thought into words.

Humans are terrible at detecting lies, says psychologist Riccardo Loconte ... but what if we had an AI-powered tool to help? He introduces his team’s work successfully training an AI to recognize falsehoods in certain contexts, laying the groundwork for a world where everything from national security to social media is a little bit safer — and a bit more ethically complicated.

AI researcher Youssef Nader and digital archaeologist Julian Schilliger share how they used AI to virtually "unroll" and decode the Herculaneum scrolls, burnt and buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. Learn how AI could help decipher a range of artifacts, revealing clues about the mysteries and achievements of the ancient world.

AI is already a powerful tool for collaboration — but this is just the tip of the iceberg, says AI researcher Katja Hofmann. She describes her team's work training AI on years of human gameplay data from video games, demonstrating the capabilities of generative AI models that learn to think, play and innovate alongside humans.

Artificial intelligence is one of humanity's most significant inventions, but how do we ensure everyone benefits from it? Technologist Jonas Andrulis introduces a transformative way to improve AI tokenization — the process by which it translates and understands data — to make it more inclusive of languages beyond English, ensuring the technology serves all cultures equally.

TED Fellow and AI scientist Ramin Hasani explores a new paradigm in artificial intelligence: liquid foundation models, AI systems inspired by the brain and designed to unlock greater performance while consuming far less energy than traditional models.

Computer scientist Vít Růžička details how his team is using AI aboard a satellite to detect methane — a potent yet often underestimated greenhouse gas. With AI technology, methane detection might become more precise, helping science and industry accelerate efforts to curb emissions. Learn more about this new frontier of fighting climate change from space.

AI may not be the threat many people fear, but rather humanity's greatest chance for survival, says cognitive scientist Andrea Lavazza. He explores the possibility that AI could become our digital heirs, carrying the essence of human wisdom, knowledge and culture across time and space — long after we're gone.

AI regulation is often framed as a tradeoff between innovation and safety, but the reality isn’t so simple, says Gabriele Mazzini, architect of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act. He explores the complexities of policymaking — particularly when it comes to new technology — and highlights the importance of public engagement, offering a glimpse at the future of AI governance.

AI often sparks skepticism, but what if it worked seamlessly, reliably and everywhere? Technologist Thomas Wolf explores how AI could become as essential as the internet — and shows why, for this vision to succeed, open-source models are key.

From the Big Bang to the rise of artificial intelligence, AI pioneer Juergen Schmidhuber unpacks history's rapid-fire advancement — and why 2042 might just be the year AI reaches superhuman levels. Blending insights from biology, technology and the cosmos, he imagines a future where AI expands beyond Earth, redefining life and intelligence in unforeseen ways.

The hiring process is becoming inundated with AI, with more and more companies using it to review resumes, administer tests and even interview their applicants. But are these systems actually able to identify quality job candidates? Investigative journalist Hilke Schellmann exposes the black box of these flawed AI application systems, calling for a future with less bias, more transparency and, yes, even a hint of humanity.

After proving his chops with a freestyle rap based on audience-suggested topics, comedian and rapper Chris Turner goes head-to-head with an unexpected competitor: ChatGPT. Who do you think will come out on top?

AI could soon consume billions of liters of water each year — much of it drinking water, says electrical and computer engineer Shaolei Ren. He dives into how energy-intensive training of large AI models, data center cooling and chip manufacturing all contribute to AI's massive “water footprint,” advocating for greater transparency, smarter resource management and more sustainable practices to reduce AI’s environmental impact, before it’s too late.

When it was created in 2001, Wikipedia was a radical experiment in global collaboration. Today, it’s the largest and most-read reference work in history, and its content and quality are maintained by hundreds of thousands of dedicated volunteers. Wikimedia chief product and technology officer Selena Deckelmann shares the five pillars behind Wikipedia’s success, inviting technologists to adopt a more inclusive approach to AI development — one that empowers people to create a common good.

Artists Ferdi Alici and Phoebe Violett explore the fascinating intersection of brain-computer interfaces, AI and creativity — and show how AI could unlock new artistic worlds around and within us.

In a world captivated by the ability of AI to mimic human language, we might be missing the bigger picture. Raia Hadsell, the VP of research at Google DeepMind, cuts through the hype and takes us on a journey to explore how AI is solving some of humanity's most complex problems — from decoding the folding patterns of proteins to predicting hurricanes with unprecedented accuracy.

What does it mean to have intelligence? Roboticist Oliver Brock takes us on a journey through neuroscience, psychology, robotics and machine learning to introduce a bold new principle: active interconnections. He reveals how this idea could transform the future of AI — and why the quest to understand intelligence has only just begun.

As we rely more and more on chatbots to handle complex interactions, we need to ask ourselves: How can we build them to truly meet human needs? Rama Akkiraju, VP of AI and automation at NVIDIA, shares how companies can amplify the power of chatbots for their specific business purposes, sharing five guidelines for designing AI built on empathy, accuracy and context.

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke discusses Europe's readiness to lead the next era of AI innovation, examining how the continent's tech ecosystems stack up against those in the US. In conversation with TEDAI Vienna co-curator Vlad Gozman, Dohmke explains the three key shifts that will help Europe thrive in the age of AI — and shows how GitHub's initiatives can empower anyone to build new ideas around the world.