The BrAIn

Every 17 min there is another dementia case in Switzerland, often due to Alzheimer’s Disease. Till date no satisfying disease modifying therapy which stops or slows down the progression is known. I will present how a scientific hypothesis pursued during my PhD studies at the university of Basel has led to the incorporation of Bottneuro. Build on academic research, Bottneuro aims to become the leading provider of non-invasive neuromodulation therapies. Using a patient-specific 3D-printed device, disease affected brain regions can be precisely stimulated and our first clinical trial is underway.

The convergence of human and artificial intelligence is currently making headlines. Much debate focuses on the integration of artificial intelligence into the human brain through intelligent brain-computer interfaces, restoring lost functions or enhancing their users’ capabilities. I will give a short introduction to these debates before turning to a complementary development: the integration of a functional in vitro network of human neurons into an in silico computing environment that its creators have called DishBrain.

Machine learning and Artificial intelligence have a great impact on today’s organisations and everyone talks about many different ML-driven applications. Undoubtedly, we are becoming more and more familiar with ML-based products, since they are an integral part of our lives. Do you think that Machine Learning brings value to the world but actually nobody can understand and control it ? Let’s see together some interesting aspects of the so-call “black-box of AI and ML”.