German computer scientist wins European Inventor Award for AI work

The German computer scientist Cordelia Schmid was awarded the European Inventor Award at a ceremony in Malta on Tuesday.

Schmid, who was honoured in the Research category, received the prize for her work in helping computers understand and interpret data from images.

The organization behind the awards, the European Patent Office, said Schmid's work contributes to machines being able to see images in such detail that it comes very close to humans. This opens up a wider range of applications for artificial intelligence (AI), for example with robots that can support elderly people, or recognize when they have had a fall.

The 56-year-old scientist was born in Mainz, studied in Karlsruhe and Grenoble and has been working at the French Research Institute for Computer Science and Automation (INRIA) near Paris since 1997.

Accepting the award, Schmid said that, if developed responsibly, "artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize our society in the same way that the steam engine and electricity did in the past."

From healthcare to sustainability, AI could help tackle some of the world's most pressing problems, she said.