AE Stories

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) used in the right way offer companies new and unprecedented opportunities to tap into. For the man and woman in the street it brings many new and exciting advances in their everyday lives. However, they also have a dark side. When we design algorithms and train models based on data of a privileged minority group, ML model outcomes (like predictions, recommendations, classifications,...) have the ability to discriminate and exclude large parts of the population in a way that is not acceptable. Fact is that we don’t always realize this, and thus need to be very careful and build in checks to avoid these circumstances.

Disruptive conditions, due to external circumstances, require a fundamental digital change. In our  #AENextNormal blog series Stef Devos talked about Accelerating Digital Business with Human Technology, or how people and society will seek a new equilibrium that will be created by a shift towards human technology. To create this shift, data science and artificial intelligence will play a crucial role in automating complex interactions.

On Thursday March 12 the coronavirus crisis exploded in Belgium. That same day, a team of AE innovation experts started to explore how technology could help prevent COVID-19 contamination among colleagues.

At AE, we have set up a 'garage' initiative as a community for working with emerging technology. Luckily for us, it’s not a boring empty box for cars to park, but a creative space with all kinds of hardware to experiment with. One of the goals with this garage initiative is to gain hands-on experience with new tech, like computer vision with neural networks for example. An important aspect of this is that it is an open community for all colleagues to collaborate and elaborate on ideas. So, the myth of the AE Garage begins!

The Firestarter Hackathon, an initiative of Vias, EY and Netwerk Brandweer, took place for the very first time on 17 and 18 October 2019. Among the more than one hundred participants were AE and Mensura, who joined forces to develop an innovative solution in the field of smart firefighting. Mensura was determined to design a tool that would make company tours, an important part of fire prevention, run more efficiently, while AE was eager to apply Microsoft's HoloLens – we love a challenge, after all. Read on to learn all about the exciting result!