Artificial intelligence: opportunities, risks and applications

In machine learning, AI attempts to identify specific patterns in huge amounts of data. By analysing this data, it learns to always find the most likely answer to a specific question or task. However, the most likely solution is not necessarily the correct one. It is always possible that generic AI will invent an answer, i.e. hallucinate. That is why it is important to cross-check important information with other sources. 

As in the human brain, many artificial brain cells (known as neural networks) send signals to each other during deep learning in AI. The AI builds up its knowledge by linking these artificial brain cells. We humans also learn by linking our brain cells together.

The field of computer vision processes and analyses countless images during training. The goal is for artificial intelligence to learn to visually recognise faces and objects.

One early application of AI was natural language processing. Here, AI (for example in voice assistants or chatbots) analyses and processes human language and learns to respond intelligently to questions.  

Meta AI is a chatbot that is integrated directly into the Meta platforms and assists with questions or provides information. The chatbot is based on Llama 3 or 4 and is designed to generate content that can be shared on the respective platform. In spring 2025, this will primarily be text.

Meta AI is available free of charge on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. You can interact with the AI as follows:    

• WhatsApp: Click on the floating blue Meta AI circle to open the chat.
• Instagram: Open your messages and click on the blue Meta AI circle in the search field to open the chat.
• Facebook: Open your messages and click on the blue Meta AI circle next to the search field to open the chat.
  

The website meta.ai(opens in new tab) also offers a chatbot with additional features such as image generation (depending on the region).

Grok 3 is the AI assistant from X (formerly Twitter). Grok clearly sets itself apart from other AI chatbots with its casual, slightly provocative conversational tone – and has become well known for this tone. In addition to text and images, Grok can also generate meme-like video clips. The chatbot also has real-time access to the X platform and is therefore often used as a fact checker in conversations (threads). To do this, you can tag Grok in posts (e.g. with @Grok) to get answers. You can also write to Grok directly via the chat box in the left-hand menu of your profile.  

Grok is available directly and free of charge in X up to a certain usage limit. Premium and Premium+ customers benefit from higher limits and newer features. Developers can use an API to integrate Grok into their own applications.

Generative AI takes over time-consuming routine tasks and gives you valuable time. For example, if you are a teacher and need to write a letter to parents at the end of the term, you can generate an initial structure with just a few inputs and immediately focus on formulating the content.

AI can also serve as an idea generator and help you overcome creative blocks. For example, let AI suggest different concepts for a project at work or in your free time and use these as a starting point to develop your own ideas further. (Please remember to observe data protection regulations and do not prompt any sensitive information.)

With the help of generative AI, content can be tailored to your personal needs. Yes, this happens thanks to the algorithms used in the adverts you see on social networks. But think, for example, of a language course that, thanks to generative AI, is tailored precisely to your level and offers you customised exercises so that you can get the most out of the course.

Generative AI also democratises access to creative tools and knowledge. Perhaps you want to design a family album with beautiful captions or a picture to hang above your sofa in your living room? With generative AI, you can design like a pro without having to be a gifted designer.

Generative AI can also help you develop and deepen new interests. Perhaps you want to work in the garden for your personal well-being, but don't know where to start? AI can not only make planting suggestions for your location, but also explain how you can design your garden so that something is always in bloom throughout the year.

Generative AI struggles to say ‘I don't know’. Instead, it prefers to invent a probable solution (a so-called hallucination) – which may not necessarily be correct. So if you are researching information with a language model and need to be able to rely on the accuracy of the information, the basic rule is: always check important information using several reliable sources.

If realistic images, videos or audio files can be generated with little effort, how can you tell the difference between what is real and what is fake? This is indeed an important question, and one that is becoming increasingly difficult to answer as the quality of generative AI improves. The key is to be aware of this fact and use your common sense. Here are a few tips on how to spot deepfakes in videos.

A look at current technical developments: Adobe, Arm, Intel, Microsoft and Truepic have formed an alliance to certify the origin of media content using watermarks. This Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA)(opens in new tab) has already developed and implemented initial technical standards that can be used to track the origin and history of media content (e.g. images or videos). This measure is intended to help expose fake news and deepfakes.

Even though the companies behind generative AI generally try to train their models in a value-free manner, certain opinions can gain the upper hand due to biased training data. Problems can also arise if the AI itself does not pursue any values and has been programmed to praise and confirm all opinions expressed by users (including morally questionable, racist or discriminatory statements). Without any relativisation or discussion of opinions, these can become increasingly radical and extremist.

In principle, generative AI can reuse the information you share with it for other purposes (such as training). AI is only as good as its training data. That's why companies like OpenAI are interested in having access to large amounts of data to optimise their AI models. The good news is that you can usually object to the use of your data in the privacy settings of the AI you use. However, the best protection is still not to share any personal data with generative AI in the first place.

 It is often forgotten that training and operating generative AI consumes enormous amounts of energy. When you ask an AI a question such as ‘What should I cook for dinner today?’, energy-hungry data centres are running at full speed in the background. Conversing with an AI typically consumes significantly more energy than a conventional internet search.

Want to know more about this topic? In early May 2025, Watson wrote: ‘This tool shows how much electricity your AI queries consume’(opens in new tab). And SRF also published an article on the topic in 2023: ‘Artificial intelligence is a huge power guzzler’(opens in new tab).

To save energy, our brain trains and retains only those skills that we use regularly. While it may be convenient to have AI do all our (home)work for us, there is a risk that we will forget how to do these tasks ourselves. We may also fail to develop our skills further. Children in particular are at risk of missing out on developing their own thinking skills – the ability to solve problems through their own reasoning.

Familiarise yourselves with the technology together. Try out different AI models and discuss how they work. For example, ask the same question to several models and compare the answers. Or test which formulations can be used to optimise search results. How does an answer change when you change the question?  

Encourage your child to question the results of generative AI. For example, play a fact-checking game where you compare AI results with other sources from Google searches, books or your own knowledge. Ask your child, ‘How do you know if that's true?’ and encourage a healthy scepticism towards AI answers.

Is it acceptable to present a generated image as your own work? Discuss questions like this with your child. For example, you could talk about why and when it might be problematic to use AI to do homework – or, to be fair, tasks from your everyday working life.

Clear guidelines that the whole family adheres to can help ensure responsible use of generative AI. It is best to decide together what the AI can and cannot be used for. And why. An example? AI can help with research, but it cannot do all of your homework. Because I want to learn something myself.

Um deinem Kind KI-Systeme näherzubringen, finde erklärende Medien, die für seine Altersgruppe geeignet sind. Es gibt fachlich korrekte Lernmedien, die extra für Kinder aufbereitet wurden. Zum Beispiel ZDFtivi: «Künstliche Intelligenz einfach erklärt»(opens in new tab) oder «Digitale Sprachassistenten»(opens in new tab).  

To help your child understand AI systems, find explanatory media that is suitable for their age group. There are technically accurate learning media that have been specially designed for children. For example, ZDFtivi: ‘Artificial intelligence explained simply’(opens in new tab) or ‘Digital voice assistants’(opens in new tab).  

We humans (and children in particular) learn consciously and unconsciously by observing others. So show your child how you use AI as a tool, but are not totally dependent on it. For example, show them how you use AI to summarise information in a practical way. But also make it clear that you consciously choose not to use AI for certain tasks and explain why.  

And yes, privacy and data protection are also important topics to discuss. It is best to work with clear examples or analogies. For example: ‘You write a letter to a dear friend. But it ends up at the wrong address and is shared with lots of strangers instead. What information would you not want it to contain?’ Then discuss together what information is best kept private when prompting.