The research group "Reliable Machine Learning" studies the properties of machine learning algorithms. In view of the recent success of deep learningmethods in applications like image recognition, speech recognition, and automatic translation, the group especially focuses on properties of deep neural networks.
Although a neural network trained e.g. for an image classification task might work well on "real inputs", it has been repeatedly shown empirically that such networks are vulnerable to adversarial examples: a minimal perturbation (impercetible to a human) of the input data can cause the network to misclassify the input. Thus, an important research area of the group is to mathematically understand the reasons for the existence of such adversarial examples (i.e., the instability of trained neural networks), and - building on that understanding - to develop improved methods that yield provably robust neural networks.
MIDS aims to provide its students with regular opportunities to engage with industry partners. For this reason, Primetals visited the Georgianum in July. Dr. Alexander Thekale gave a presentation on “AI in the Steel Industry” and was then available to answer students’ questions. These company events give students valuable insight into the career opportunities available to them in the field of data science after graduation. They also get to make initial contacts with industry partners and discuss internship opportunities. The event was organized by Prof. Nadja Ray.