When Apple announces news about artificial intelligence, it's a global topic. It is not known that the tech giant is also creating jobs in Zurich. This is thanks to the artificial intelligence expertise of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH).
A few years ago, Apple acquired two startups with their origins in ETH, namely Luc van Gool's computer vision lab. In an interview with SRF, the head of the Computer Vision Laboratory spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of American dominance in the technology sector.
Luke van Gool
Head of the Computer Vision Laboratory, ETH Zurich
SRF News: Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence. What role does Zurich play in its development?
Luc Van Gool: ETH is a global leader in artificial intelligence. There are a lot of people working on it for us. AI has had a huge impact on signal processing, including computer vision, which is what we're dealing with. Quite simply, for us it's about how the computer sees. Zurich has also become a center that has successfully attracted industries and companies. Some of the “Big Seven” companies (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla) have been conducting research here for years. This is also a result of the startups that have emerged on ETH thanks to the collaboration between professors and companies.
The truth is that Apple's location in Zurich relies on ETH expertise. The group acquired two startups it had created.
Yes, this is correct. I'm not allowed to comment on Apple specifically. But yes: some research in computer vision and signal processing comes from ETH and has been purchased by industries. Collaboration between ETH masters and companies is also important. For example, we also perform a search with Google.
So your best researchers move to US companies? Is this good or bad?
It's a mixed picture. The good thing is that our employees can pursue exciting projects thanks to cooperation with technology companies. They then have the opportunity to conduct research in the company. A good number of our employees have found jobs here in Zurich.
European companies Google and Microsoft are missing.
What's so bad about that?
The downside is that Europe does not produce any large companies in this field. The “Big Seven” comes exclusively from the USA. European companies Google and Microsoft are missing. Europe has lagged a bit in AI. This has already happened with the Internet and now with the development of artificial intelligence. You have to pay close attention.
In what way?
Artificial intelligence relies on the use of data. You learn with data. It is important to make data more difficult to access, as the European Union does through its data protection regulation. Therefore there is a need for regulation. But we also have to be careful that regulation does not make research impossible.
Is Europe regulating AI too heavily?
In any case, we should not exaggerate and be proud of being at the forefront of regulation, as Europe does. Otherwise the innovation will happen elsewhere and we will then have to buy it.
Interview conducted by Harry Stitzel.
