The University of Kassel sent out the following press release on 22.12.2020 in view of the HyMeKI AI junior research group launched in October 2020:

Man and machine as team partners
1.9 million euros for research into artificial intelligence in the digitalized world of work
Artificial intelligence (AI) can support people in their everyday lives. A research project at the Universities of Kassel and Hamburg is investigating the requirements that must be met for AI-based assistance systems to be accepted and at the same time enable individualized lifelong learning between humans and AI. The project is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 1.9 million euros.

What are the requirements for the design of AI-based assistance systems so that they are accepted by people and offer individualized user experiences? And how can processes be designed so that AI systems learn from humans and vice versa? A research team from Kassel and Hamburg will be addressing these two key questions over the next four years. The co-heads of the AI junior research group "Hybridization of human and artificial intelligence in knowledge work - HyMeKI (FKZ 01IS20057)" Prof. Dr. Eva Bittner (University of Hamburg) and Dr. Sarah Oeste-Reiß (University of Kassel) primarily want to research the collaboration and learning processes of humans with AI systems.

The starting point is the observation that tasks in a digitalized working world are becoming increasingly complex and require lifelong learning - especially in the processing of research. Artificial intelligence, for example in the form of text, image or speech recognition, can help knowledge workers to solve tasks or take them over completely. HyMeKI therefore offers great economic potential for organizations with knowledge-intensive activities. This applies equally to Hamburg as an IT, media and retail location and to Kassel and the North Hesse region as a location for industry and SMEs. "For the University of Kassel and the Scientific Center for Information Technology Design (ITeG) located there, projects such as HyMeKI are particularly successful in further expanding the expertise of socio-technical system design in the field of artificial intelligence with qualified female scientists and developing socially desirable innovations," agree ITeG Directors Prof. Dr. Jan Marco Leimeister and Prof. Dr. Bernhard Sick, who support the junior research group as mentors.

Merging human and artificial intelligence
An important approach of HyMeKI is that people sometimes perceive AI-based systems as social actors and therefore have similar expectations regarding the quality of their solutions, capabilities and communication behavior. However, these expectations are often not met and lead to a rejection of AI systems. "Completely new challenges arise in the collaboration between humans and AI systems, and it is important to create added value for both and to ensure smooth handovers - for both humans and the AI system," says Prof. Dr. Eva Bittner. "The fusion of human and artificial intelligence in collaboration plays a key role here, so we need innovative collaboration practices that simultaneously promote human and machine learning," adds Dr. Sarah Oeste-Reiß. The ambitious goal of the HyMeKI junior research group is to develop and test techniques and reusable socio-technical design patterns for collaboration and mutual learning between knowledge workers and AI assistance systems - taking into account aspects such as transparency, the ability to act and the autonomy of those involved.

The business informatics specialists will use various methods for their research. These include case studies, surveys and observations, analyses of human-AI interaction in multimedia-equipped team labs as well as online and crowd experiments.

Background
The project is funded as part of the BMBF's "Funding for young female AI scientists" guideline. The purpose of the funding is to promote research into AI issues on novel and innovative topics by junior research groups led by women. The targeted promotion of women is intended to increase the participation and influence of women in AI research in Germany. The applicants had to prevail in a two-stage, competitive selection process. A total of twenty projects were selected nationwide, which are now being funded.

Contact

Dr. Sarah Oeste-Reiss
University of Kassel
Department of Information Systems & Scientific Center for IT Design (ITeG)
Tel: +49-561-804 6154
Email: oeste-reiss[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
www.hymeki.de