Formation of a Research Discipline Artificial Intelligence and Intellectics at the Technical University of Munich

Abstract

Academic Computer Science emerged in Germany at the end of the 1960s. In 2017, the Munich universities celebrated “50 Years of Computer Science in Munich”. To this occasion various events were held; also, there was a special issue in the Informatik Spektrum, the official journal of the Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI – the German Society for Computer Science) and of associated organizations, as well as an anthology on Computer Science in Munich [ 1 ]. One year later, the present authors published a tribute to the research group for Artificial Intelligence/Intellectics at the TUM in a volume of the Deutsche Museum’s Preprints series [ 2 ], of which the present article is a very brief summary—for much more detailed information and impressions of former group members please refer to this booklet. The Munich group for Artificial Intelligence/Intellectics came into being thanks to academic freedom at German universities, in this case the Technical University of Munich (TUM): A single young scientist is enthusiastic about an idea, a new idea, which has not yet been worked on or supported by any professor at the TUM: Artificial Intelligence or Intellectics. The scientist initiates relationships with other colleagues, nationally and internationally; he is successful, receives research funding, and establishes a research group that asserted itself over almost four decades and influenced and advanced the field. The present article provides a brief history of the group.