A pivotal moment for AI research and application in Estonia – opening of the Estonian Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (EXAI) that brings together 13 research groups from the University of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology, and Cybernetica, under the leadership of Meelis Kull. With a focus on extending the AI knowledge base, developing hybrid AI systems, and ensuring safeguards in trust, privacy, and security, EXAI is poised to make significant contributions in various domains including e-governance, cybersecurity, education, healthcare, and business process management.

Last week, we – University of Tartu – hosted members and guests of EXAI as part of the opening event titled “Leading the Way with Trustworthy AI”, during which initial ideas into how we can build and harness trustworthy AI for societal benefit were presented by EXAI representatives, representing both academy, industry and government – Meelis Kull (University of Tartu, Head of EXAI), Rain Ottis (Tallinn University of Technology), Liina Kamm (Cybernetica), Jaan Aru (University of Tartu), Mark Fišel (University of Tartu), Tanel Tammet (Tallinn University of Technology), Kristel Kriisa (Government Office of Estonia), Henrik Trasberg (Estonian Ministry of Justice), Sander Tars (MindTitan), Ando Saabas (Microsoft), Margit Sutrop (University of Tartu, Member of the Parliament of Estonia), Marlon Dumas (University of Tartu), culminating in a dynamic panel discussion titled “AI Estonia”.

Let’s look forward to the exciting developments ahead!