Miscellaneous scientific news/publications, Scientific conferences

Artificial intelligence is changing specific areas of life: news and disinformation, educational institutions, public administration, work processes and vocational qualification. This is precisely where the Summer of AI comes in. Public lectures, hands-on activities and dialogue formats will bring the major questions surrounding AI into the city: to the Bremische Bürgerschaft, Bremen’s state parliament, to the Kassenhalle in the Forum am Domshof and to the open-space stage on the Domshof. Senator for Economic Affairs Kristina Vogt emphasises:

“At the Summer of AI, people in Bremen can engage with artificial intelligence in a very practical way and join the discussion. AI has long been part of our everyday lives, even if we do not always notice it. For companies and skilled professionals in particular, however, it is becoming increasingly important to keep pace with developments. That is why I warmly invite everyone to make use of the offers this summer, be inspired and try out for yourselves what AI is already capable of today. What each person makes of it is up to them.”

At the centre of the public programme are three formats from IJCAI-ECAI 2026: the AI Panel “New Directions for Safe AI Agents” at the University of Bremen, the AI Lecture with the internationally renowned AI researcher Professor Dr Toby Walsh from Australia, and the AI Lounges on the Domshof on media, administration, education and the world of work.

A special highlight is the public AI Lecture in the Bremische Bürgerschaft. With Professor Toby Walsh, one of the world’s most prominent AI researchers and science communicators is coming to Bremen. Walsh has been researching artificial intelligence for more than four decades, has published several books for a general readership and is one of the key voices in the international AI debate. In Bremen, he will speak about the opportunities, limits and societal consequences of AI, and about what citizens, organisations and institutions need to understand now. The English-language lecture therefore offers a special opportunity to experience international AI expertise first-hand. The event will be opened with welcoming remarks by Senator Dr Henrike Müller and Professor Dr Jutta Günther, President of the University of Bremen.

Before that, IJCAI-ECAI 2026 will already focus attention on one of the central questions for the future of AI with the public AI Panel “New Directions for Safe AI Agents”: how can systems remain safe, comprehensible and controllable when they increasingly plan, act and prepare decisions independently? International English-speaking experts will discuss trustworthy AI agents, human oversight, transparency and responsible application in the lecture hall building of the University of Bremen.

With the four AI Lounges, the AI debate will come to the open-space stage on the Domshof, in the heart of the city. The format is made possible by several sponsors, including Unternehmensverbände im Lande Bremen e. V. and the Schütting Foundation of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce. In German, experts from academia, practice, public institutions and civil society will discuss topics that directly affect many people: AI x Media, AI x Administration, AI x Education and AI x World of Work.

Dr.-Ing. Monika Michaelis, Coordinator of the Artificial Intelligence Lead Project of the U Bremen Research Alliance and Chair of the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 Local Arrangements Committee, says:

“The Summer of AI is a special opportunity to make Bremen’s AI expertise visible and accessible to many people. This fits very well with the ambition of the U Bremen Research Alliance: we want to shape AI research responsibly and in a human-centred way; the research projects within our alliance always take this dimension into account.”

Beyond the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 formats, there will be many further formats as part of the Summer of AI. For young people and everyone who would like to experience AI in practice, the Kassenhalle in the Forum am Domshof will be transformed into an open learning and experience space: AI x Open Lab. At interactive hands-on stations, with digital learning media and in practice-oriented workshop formats, school students, vocational trainees and interested members of the public will be able to explore AI in a comprehensible, creative and critical way. The focus will not only be on technology, but also on questions of learning, society, culture, work and the future. AI x Open Lab is being realised by Digital Impact Lab Bremen in cooperation with the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, the U Bremen Research Alliance, the University of Bremen, the M2C Institute and other Bremen universities and research institutions.

For interested entrepreneurs, the Senator for Economic Affairs, Ports and Transformation and the IJCAI-ECAI team, in cooperation with the industry association bremen digitalmedia, are offering exclusive access to a networking reception and guided tours of the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 Exhibition. The tours will be offered in the following thematic areas: AI x Robotics, AI x Language, AI x Health and AI x Digital Business Processes. Places are limited, so binding registration is required.

The scientific breadth of Bremen as an AI location will also become visible this summer. Several specialist accompanying events will take place in the context of IJCAI-ECAI 2026, including the ACM Conversational User Interfaces Conference, CUI 2026, the 49th German Conference on Artificial Intelligence, KI2026, the International Conference on Case-Based Reasoning, ICCBR-26, the AI Emmy Networking Day @ IJCAI 2026 and the Cavecore PhD School.

This makes the Summer of AI more than an accompanying programme to an international conference. Bremen is using IJCAI-ECAI 2026 to bring artificial intelligence out of the specialist sphere and into the city: comprehensible, accessible and related to questions that affect citizens in their everyday lives. At the same time, the scientific depth of the location is reflected in the accompanying events and in a network that brings together research, application, education, politics and society.

About the U Bremen Research Alliance

The U Bremen Research Alliance brings together the University of Bremen and thirteen non-university research institutions from all four major German science organizations—Fraunhofer Society, Helmholtz Association, Leibniz Association, and Max Planck Society—as well as the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). Together, these partner institutions shape a coordinated space for research, infrastructure, and innovation—“from the deep sea to outer space.”

Contact

IJCAI-ECAI 2026 Local Press Office

The Local Press Office of IJCAI-ECAI 2026 coordinates press relations for the conference in Bremen. It is supported by the U Bremen Research Alliance, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), and the German Informatics Society (GI), as well as the Publicity Chairs Prof. Dr. Ralf Möller (University of Hamburg, German Informatics Society) and Prof. Dr. Rolf Drechsler (University of Bremen, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence).

As the central point of contact for the media, the Press Office provides communications support for IJCAI-ECAI 2026 and is available to media representatives from Bremen and throughout Germany for inquiries both now and during the conference.

Media inquiries: press@2026.ijcai.org

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Weitere Informationen:
https://www.bremen-research.de/en/activities/artificial-intelligence/summer-of-ai-in-bremen Summer of AI in Bremen
https://2026.ijcai.org/outreach/ Registration AI Panel / AI Lecture
https://www.bremen-innovativ.de/veranstaltungen/netzwerkempfang-am-bremen-stand-auf-der-ijcai-ecia-2026/ Registration networking reception
https://www.bremen-innovativ.de/veranstaltungen/guided-tours-durch-die-ijcai-ecai-2026-exhibition/ Registration Guided Tours