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‘If we want to shape the future, we have to embrace this experiment.’
Author Sascha Lobo about artificial intelligence
Carolin Hort
15 January 2025
Society
Reading Time: 2 min.
Sascha Lobo is a publicist, podcaster and expert in the field of digitalisation and AI. We discuss his views on artificial intelligence and the potential of combining AI with robotics and automation.
Sascha, on your website you write: ‘The AI transformation, i.e. the change in the economy and society through artificial intelligence, will have an impact as comprehensive as industrialisation. That's why we need to understand it – quickly.’ Explain.
Sascha Lobo: It was industrialisation that first led to the world as we know it today. Our cities, our logistics, everything depends on it very directly. Without industrialisation, we would still be living in village structures today. The change brought about by artificial intelligence will be similarly profound.
Sascha Lobo: ‘We have to develop a culture of trial and error and learn to fail forward.’
Can you describe that in more detail?
What lies ahead of us will have a major impact on the way we live and on our daily routines, but above all on business processes. AI is even having such a profound effect that it is changing our culture, our way of interacting with each other. And that is precisely the point: our interaction with each other. When you are at the forefront of progress, a lot of things are not yet clear. You have to find out and work it out, and that only works if you try out in a structured way how this transformation works.
So the main thing we need to do is try things out?
Correct! In a professional context, this means that companies and employees must work together to see how work processes and production workflows are changing as a result of AI. And, of course, people themselves must develop an AI literacy* by starting to research and educate themselves. We can't prepare for this quickly enough.
An appeal?
We need a culture of change. In Germany, in particular, we have a tendency towards perfectionism. However, digital networking and AI are leading to an age of ‘efficiency radicalism’: all transformations aim to drastically increase efficiency. We need to develop a culture of trial and error and learn to fail forward.
‘Companies and employees must work together to see how work processes and production workflows are changing as a result of AI.’ - Sascha Lobo
You said earlier that AI will have a similar impact to industrialisation. What role does AI play in this industrial revolution, in combination with robotics and automation?
Not just me, but a lot of people, like the CEO and founder of Nvidia Jensen Huang, are saying: the next big thing with and through and at AI is robotics. We are talking about Physical AI, through the marriage of virtualisation, software and AI-driven software with robotics.
I'll give you an example: what is the secret of the success of platforms like Temu, which sell extremely low-priced goods?
...
Firstly: on AI.
Secondly: on new logistics applications related to AI.
Thirdly: on completely new production dynamics.
And why? Because the data from the shops and platforms flows immediately back into the production halls. So there is a direct link between a pair of trendy blue trainers on Temu and the information sent to the factory, which then produces them in real time – right down to a batch size of one, and at a profit. This will lead to an incredible increase in production dynamics. Across all industries, regardless of whether they produce metal parts or folded paper bags.
The next big thing with and through and at AI is robotics.
Do you see international differences?
Absolutely. In Europe, we tend to see risks first and therefore regulate. And I'm not saying that laissez-faire should now be the order of the day, we need some form of regulation. But we clearly need to loosen up when we see what's happening in other parts of the world. The pace and radical nature with which this transformation is being driven forward clearly shows that we need a different mindset. If we want to help shape the future, then we have to get involved in this experiment.
