A visit to the AI lab

Taking high-quality images with our smartphones, translating texts from one language to another in just a few seconds, streaming services that make suggestions for music and films – these are some of the many tasks that are performed by algorithms. It takes a lot of data and training for these algorithms to perform well, which in turn, require a lot of people and computing power.

For the average user, it is often not easy to understand what algorithms actually are and what they have to do with artificial intelligence (AI). Researchers at the Idiap Research Institute in the canton Valais have recently developed some playful applications that demonstrate to the public what AI can do and how it works. One day, these applications could be used to support elderly or disabled people.