Hungary’s first industrial department for artificial intelligence inaugurated

Research at the ELTE-Bosch Artificial Intelligence Department will contribute to the development of self-driving vehicles, industrial automation, machine vision and neural systems that increasingly mimic human brain function, among other things.

Speaking about the renewal of higher education, Minister of Innovation and Technology László Palkovics highlighted the importance of industry and joint R&D in universities.

He said that the cooperation between ELTE and Bosch Group would enable the university to be directly involved in international industrial innovation processes, while the company’s R&D activities would be able to produce a number of results.

Palkovics said that the establishment of the Hungarian Artificial Intelligence Coalition was announced three years ago, with the aim of placing Hungary at the forefront of AI developments and applications in Europe.  

Several schemes are helping to develop Hungary’s innovation ecosystem, including the creation of national laboratories, competence centers, science parks and innovation centers, he said.

István Szászi, head of Bosch Group in Hungary and the Adriatic region, said that one of the most exciting areas of joint research between ELTE and Bosch is the development of systems supporting Level 4 and Level 5 self-driving, where machine intelligence can now take over the safe control of vehicles without human supervision or intervention. 

Bosch will not only provide the industrial background and expertise for the new department, but has also assisted in its practical implementation, Szászi said.

Lénárd Darázs, the vice-rector for General Affairs at ELTE, said: “Artificial intelligence is a field encompassing numerous projects at ELTE and is now integrated into research and education in almost all disciplines.”