Comparing Notes on Trustworthy AI, 10.11.

From Pilots to Practice: A Year of Comparing Notes on Physical AI
About this Event

From Pilots to Practice? Looking back on a year of Embodied AI in Europe
What have we learned, what does it mean on the ground, and where do we go from here in 2027?

Hosted by the appliedAI Institute for Europe at the House of Communication, Munich.

In 2026, the Comparing Notes community spent four evenings on embodied and physical AI, from humanoid robots and care robots to the ethics of machines that act on us and for us.

On the panel:

• Dr.-Ing. Robin Jeanne Kirschner is a robotics researcher at the TUM Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) and leads a research group on biomechanics and robotics at the Orthopaedics Department of the TUM University Hospital. Her research focuses on robot safety, physical human-robot interaction, and the measurement, evaluation, and standardisation of robotic capabilities. She directs MIRMI's AI Robot Performance and Safety Center and serves as an invited expert in international robot-safety standardisation work within ISO/TC 299.
• Julian Hoffmann is CTO and Co-Founder of Sitegeist GmbH, which offers an autonomous and modular construction robot capable of addressing the skilled worker shortage, starting with concrete renovation and sanitation in the construction industry.
• Olivia Herzog is a Science Transfer expert at robo.innovate (Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence), TUM Venture Labs Robotics/AI, and the Robotics Institute Germany (RIG). Bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and the market, she leverages her background in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) and psychology to architect the next generation of European robotics ventures. Her doctoral research at TUM focuses on closing the "trust gap" in Physical AI, specifically investigating how mobile robots navigate public spaces and sensitive settings.

Moderated by Claudia Baumgartner, Trustworthy AI Expert at the appliedAI Institute for Europe.

Together we will discuss:

• Where do we stand today with embodied and physical AI, and what do we actually mean by it?
• What decides whether a ideas and pilots make it into practice?
• What does trustworthiness mean in practice? Who has to trust whom, and how is that negotiated between providers, deployers, authorities and users?
• Are trust and safety a strategy for Europe, a cost, or both?
• Where is the topic heading in 2027?

Who should come

Anyone working with AI in engineering, law, ethics, policy or business, including SMEs and public authorities.

About the series

• This event is part of the “Comparing Notes on Trustworthy AI” series.
• Hosted by: appliedAI Institute for Europe in collaboration with LMU Munich Centre for ML, Liquid Legal Institute e.V. and TUM Think Tank.
• This project is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs.

Agenda

🕑: 05:30 PM - 06:00 PM
Doors open and welcome
🕑: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Panel discussion
Host: Claudia Baumgartner
🕑: 07:00 PM - 07:15 PM
Q&A with the audience
🕑: 07:15 PM - 08:00 PM
Networking, Snacks & Drinks