"Artificial intelligence enables computers to learn new skills that will allow us to find better solutions to the challenges we face, be it in the field of medicine, tackling environmental issues or overcoming social problems. It will open up huge scientific and economic potential and thus comes with great responsibility. In order to exploit the opportunities for science, business and people in Hesse, we are relying on the particular strengths of the universities in Hesse: The Technical University of Darmstadt is strong in basic research and is closely followed by other universities that are conducting specialist research into AI, while we can also call on outstanding practical research at the University of Applied Sciences. The concept was jointly developed by 13 universities and more than 40 partners from the fields of research and business already want to cooperate with the centre today. Thanks to its unique characteristics, the centre will – as confirmed by the independent evaluation commission – become highly visible internationally, acting as a beacon in this field that will reach far beyond the boundaries of our state."