Safe Intelligence online magazine

Current articles regardless of the topic

Safety Engineering / 6.11.2025

Generative AI as a gap filler

Artificial intelligence opens up new economic opportunities for companies. However, the integration of AI raises significant safety concerns in safety-critical systems. This results in a gap between economic potential and safety, the economic safety gap. But generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI, GenAI) can help close it.

Safety Engineering

Safetronic 2025 / 29.9.2025

Safety remains a challenge

Holistic safety for road vehicles is the focus of the annual Safetronic conference (November 12–13, 2025, in Leinfelden-Echterdingen). In a video discussion, Fraunhofer IKS Director Prof. Dr. Mario Trapp and Program comittee member Hans-Leo Ross, CARIAD, talk about the future of mobility.

Safetronic 2025

Safetronic 2025: Preview / 14.10.2025

What is an acceptable risk? A proposal

The safety of a product, i.e., not causing harm, is a crucial property for its persistent success on the market and avoidance of legal risks for the manufacturer. However, since perfect safety is typically not achievable, the question what defines acceptable safety and what defines acceptable risks, i.e., risk acceptance criteria (RAC), arises.

Safetronic 2025: Preview

AI in medicine / 7.10.2025

Using AI for facial fracture detection

Consultation projects play a crucial role in fulfilling the Fraunhofer mission of translating cutting-edge research into industry applications. Recently, Fraunhofer IKS cooperated with the South Korean company ZIOVISION on AI-based facial fracture segmentation from medical images. The successful outcome of the project demonstrates the potential benefits such collaborations offer to both partners.

AI in medicine

Interview with Delphine Kervarec-Vicq / 30.9.2025

“Standards are key to understand each other in an extended eco system”

Delphine Kervarec-Vicq, Product Safety Director at Valeo, is a new member of the program committee for Safetronic, the international conference on holistic safety for road vehicles. In an interview with Safe Intelligence online magazine, she talks about her motivation for joining the committee and explains the importance of safety for automated driving.

Safety engineering

Safetronic 2025: Preview / 15.9.2025

Without safety, new mobility solutions will fall to the wayside

Not only management consultancies, but also other strategic players see the increasing importance of Remote Driving Systems (RDS) for the transportation of the future. But is the concept safe enough? An extensive two-year operation without safety drivers has confirmed the technical feasibility and safety of RDS. And not only that: a comprehensive training framework for Remote Drivers has demonstrably improved performance and safety.

Safetronic 2025

Interview with Reinhard Stolle / 12.9.2025

“Bringing the best technology safely into the vehicle”

Ensuring the safety of AI functions in vehicles remains a challenge that must be mastered step by step. However, visible progress is being made on the road to autonomous driving, says Dr. Reinhard Stolle, deputy director of the Fraunhofer IKS. And the success of ChatGPT & Co. is also likely to be leveraged for highly automated vehicles.

Interview Reinhard Stolle

Safe Intelligence
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Articles on Autonomous Driving

Safetronic 2025 / 29.9.2025

Safety remains a challenge

Holistic safety for road vehicles is the focus of the annual Safetronic conference (November 12–13, 2025, in Leinfelden-Echterdingen). In a video discussion, Fraunhofer IKS Director Prof. Dr. Mario Trapp and Program comittee member Hans-Leo Ross, CARIAD, talk about the future of mobility.

Safetronic 2025

Safetronic 2025: Preview / 14.10.2025

What is an acceptable risk? A proposal

The safety of a product, i.e., not causing harm, is a crucial property for its persistent success on the market and avoidance of legal risks for the manufacturer. However, since perfect safety is typically not achievable, the question what defines acceptable safety and what defines acceptable risks, i.e., risk acceptance criteria (RAC), arises.

Safetronic 2025: Preview

Interview with Delphine Kervarec-Vicq / 30.9.2025

“Standards are key to understand each other in an extended eco system”

Delphine Kervarec-Vicq, Product Safety Director at Valeo, is a new member of the program committee for Safetronic, the international conference on holistic safety for road vehicles. In an interview with Safe Intelligence online magazine, she talks about her motivation for joining the committee and explains the importance of safety for automated driving.

Safety engineering

Safetronic 2025: Preview / 15.9.2025

Without safety, new mobility solutions will fall to the wayside

Not only management consultancies, but also other strategic players see the increasing importance of Remote Driving Systems (RDS) for the transportation of the future. But is the concept safe enough? An extensive two-year operation without safety drivers has confirmed the technical feasibility and safety of RDS. And not only that: a comprehensive training framework for Remote Drivers has demonstrably improved performance and safety.

Safetronic 2025

Interview with Reinhard Stolle / 12.9.2025

“Bringing the best technology safely into the vehicle”

Ensuring the safety of AI functions in vehicles remains a challenge that must be mastered step by step. However, visible progress is being made on the road to autonomous driving, says Dr. Reinhard Stolle, deputy director of the Fraunhofer IKS. And the success of ChatGPT & Co. is also likely to be leveraged for highly automated vehicles.

Interview Reinhard Stolle

Safe Intelligence
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Articles on Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 / 7.8.2025

Toolbox offers more flexibility in production

The ability of a production system to adapt independently to new circumstances promises efficiency gains and thus cost advantages. This also applies to late change orders in the production process - a case for the new tool set from Fraunhofer IKS for flexible and resilient production.

Toolbox

Production / 17.7.2025

Autonomous Systems on a Leash

A precisely defined operating environment is not only important for autonomous driving. The Operational Design Domain (ODD) also ensures safety for many other highly automated systems in rail transport, logistics and mobile robotics.

Autonomous Systems

automatica 2025 / 12.6.2025

Simplicity meets efficiency: working safely with your robot colleague

Seeing and being seen - this not only counts in the social arena, but also in the efficient and reliable cooperation between humans and robots in industrial production. Fraunhofer IKS will be demonstrating what this is all about in particular at Automatica in Munich at the end of June under the motto: “Simplicity is key”.

automatica 2025

Industrial Automation / 19.5.2025

MBO-KISS: The future of control applications in industry

Can AI revolutionize production control? This is the question the research project MBO-KISS (Methods for Evaluating and Optimizing AI-generated Control Applications Based on the Physical Simulation of Machines and Their Desired Behavior) aims to address. The project has started at the beginning of the year, with a total duration of three years. The goal is to investigate the possible usage of Large Language Models (LLMs) for generating and securely applying control applications in industrial production.

Industrial Automation

DEEP series, part 4 / 11.4.2025

The process is directed by DEEP

The previous three parts of our series focused on the technologies “under the hood” of DEEP, the Fraunhofer IKS machine learning toolchain. Now, we take a look at the “big picture” in form of the process steps of the DEEP procedure – how DEEP can be used to get a grip on the problems associated with the use of machine learning (ML) for future flexible quality inspection.

DEEP series, part 4

Safe Intelligence
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Articles on AI in medicine

AI in medicine / 7.10.2025

Using AI for facial fracture detection

Consultation projects play a crucial role in fulfilling the Fraunhofer mission of translating cutting-edge research into industry applications. Recently, Fraunhofer IKS cooperated with the South Korean company ZIOVISION on AI-based facial fracture segmentation from medical images. The successful outcome of the project demonstrates the potential benefits such collaborations offer to both partners.

AI in medicine

Artificial Intelligence / 21.8.2025

Can Generative AI Revolutionize Modern Healthcare?

Artificial intelligence, especially large language models (LLMs), are seen by many as a key resource for an overburdened healthcare system. AI-supported automation in particular could quickly relieve the burden of knowledge management tasks. Before this can happen, security and safety challenges as well as legal requirements must be taken into account. Fraunhofer IKS research is dedicated to both of these aspects.

Generative AI

Portrait Katie Fitch / 27.3.2025

"The interaction between research and industry inspires me"

Dr. Katie Fitch has been head of the department Trustworthy Digital Health at Fraunhofer IKS since November 2024. Katie's enthusiasm for mathematics led her to the engineering section early on. Then she discovered medical AI research for herself.

Portrait Katie Fitch

AI in Workforce Management / 6.3.2025

Reinforcement Learning Shift Planning Agent Set to Transform Hospital Staffing

Faced with cost pressures and a shortage of healthcare professionals, organizations are challenged to increase efficiency. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into workforce management offers promising approaches. In a joint project, Fraunhofer IKS and ATOSS Software have developed an AI-controlled shift planning agent that automates staff scheduling while demonstrating remarkable scalability.

AI in Workforce Management

Machine learning in medicine / 24.7.2024

Data-driven diagnostics improve the health of premature babies

Babies born prematurely, i.e. before their organs have fully developed, often suffer from various health problems, known as morbidities. These rarely manifest alone, but often occur simultaneously. Researching connections or even patterns in their co-occurrence helps to develop more effective and more personalized care for premature babies. A project report.

Machine learning in medicine

Safe Intelligence
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Articles on cognitive systems

Rail / 4.9.2025

Safe.trAIn: AI as train conductor on regional railways

Autonomous driving is not only set to conquer the roads, but also offers enormous potential for driverless trains in rail transport. Proof of this is the safe.trAIn project, in which Fraunhofer IKS has taken on the central task of methodically assuring the AI functions.

Safe.trAIn

Machine Learning / 28.8.2025

Metrics as an indicator of AI safety: is that enough?

The performance of machine learning (ML) models is typically assessed using metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, etc. But how trustworthy are these single point estimates really? Such metrics reflect reality only partially and can provide us with a false sense of safety. Especially in safety-critical areas, this can be dangerous. Fraunhofer IKS develops a formal framework for the quantification of uncertainty which aims to make the residual risk “more computable”.

Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence / 9.7.2025

An alliance that benefits customers

Fraunhofer IKS has joined the Fraunhofer Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Alliance. According to the Institute Director Mario Trapp, exchange and collaboration within the alliance make it possible to pool expertise and create synergies - to the benefit of customers.

Fraunhofer Alliance

Industrial Automation / 19.5.2025

MBO-KISS: The future of control applications in industry

Can AI revolutionize production control? This is the question the research project MBO-KISS (Methods for Evaluating and Optimizing AI-generated Control Applications Based on the Physical Simulation of Machines and Their Desired Behavior) aims to address. The project has started at the beginning of the year, with a total duration of three years. The goal is to investigate the possible usage of Large Language Models (LLMs) for generating and securely applying control applications in industrial production.

Industrial Automation

ISO 9001 certification / 7.5.2025

Seal of Approval for Research Quality

Jetzt ist es »amtlich«: Das Fraunhofer IKS stellt nachweislich höchste Ansprüche an die Qualität seiner Forschungsarbeit. Das belegt die Zertifizierung nach ISO 9001, die das Institut mit Erfolg bestanden hat.

ISO 9001 certification

Safe Intelligence
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Articles on Artificial Intelligence

Safety Engineering / 6.11.2025

Generative AI as a gap filler

Artificial intelligence opens up new economic opportunities for companies. However, the integration of AI raises significant safety concerns in safety-critical systems. This results in a gap between economic potential and safety, the economic safety gap. But generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI, GenAI) can help close it.

Safety Engineering

AI in medicine / 7.10.2025

Using AI for facial fracture detection

Consultation projects play a crucial role in fulfilling the Fraunhofer mission of translating cutting-edge research into industry applications. Recently, Fraunhofer IKS cooperated with the South Korean company ZIOVISION on AI-based facial fracture segmentation from medical images. The successful outcome of the project demonstrates the potential benefits such collaborations offer to both partners.

AI in medicine

Interview with Reinhard Stolle / 12.9.2025

“Bringing the best technology safely into the vehicle”

Ensuring the safety of AI functions in vehicles remains a challenge that must be mastered step by step. However, visible progress is being made on the road to autonomous driving, says Dr. Reinhard Stolle, deputy director of the Fraunhofer IKS. And the success of ChatGPT & Co. is also likely to be leveraged for highly automated vehicles.

Interview with Reinhard Stolle

Rail / 4.9.2025

Safe.trAIn: AI as train conductor on regional railways

Autonomous driving is not only set to conquer the roads, but also offers enormous potential for driverless trains in rail transport. Proof of this is the safe.trAIn project, in which Fraunhofer IKS has taken on the central task of methodically assuring the AI functions.

Safe.trAIn

Artificial Intelligence / 21.8.2025

Can Generative AI Revolutionize Modern Healthcare?

Artificial intelligence, especially large language models (LLMs), are seen by many as a key resource for an overburdened healthcare system. AI-supported automation in particular could quickly relieve the burden of knowledge management tasks. Before this can happen, security and safety challenges as well as legal requirements must be taken into account. Fraunhofer IKS research is dedicated to both of these aspects.

Gernative AI

Safe Intelligence
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Articles on quantum computing

Quantum Computing / 25.6.2025

How secure are quantum machine learning systems?

Machine learning models are exposed to malicious external attacks that drastically falsify results and assessments - to the harm of people in safety-critical situations. Defense strategies already exist. But what happens when quantum computing comes into play? Together with partners, Fraunhofer IKS has taken a close look at the first approaches to averting danger.

Quantum Computing

International Year of Quatum Science / 11.2.2025

Quantum Computing Comes Knocking on the Door of Business

The United Nations has declared 2025 to be the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. This is to recall and celebrate the fact that 100 years have now elapsed since the beginnings of quantum mechanics. It is an occasion for a critical review and an optimistic preview of quantum computing technology, including from the point of view of business.

Year of Quantum Science

Machine Learning / 6.5.2024

Formal Verification of Neural Networks with Quantum Computers

Neural networks are not robust. The development of reliable predictors requires systematic methods to both assess their quality and to gain confidence in their correctness. Quantum computing can help here.

Machine Learning

The Future of Problem-Solving / 22.1.2024

Quantum Optimization's Promise, Pitfalls, and Progress

Quantum computing represents a frontier in computational technology, offering unparalleled potential for solving complex problems. However, this revolutionary field is not without its challenges. In this blog post, we will explore the vast potential of quantum optimization, identify the key challenges that lie ahead, and discuss strategies for navigating the path forward in this exciting domain.

The Future of Problem-Solving

Machine Learning / 3.11.2023

Quantum computing helps reinforcement learning to take off

Reinforcement learning is often the most suitable AI solution for a range of applications in the sectors of autonomous systems, healthcare, and communication, due to the training method. Nevertheless, the nature of these tasks makes data collection potentially resource intensive or in some cases even unachievable. This is where reinforcement learning could benefit from embedding quantum computing methods since hybrid quantum-classical reinforcement learning was empirically shown to need less training steps to reach convergence. Fraunhofer IKS is researching solutions that are also suitable for use in industry.

QC and ML

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Articles on safety engineering

Safety Engineering / 6.11.2025

Generative AI as a gap filler

Artificial intelligence opens up new economic opportunities for companies. However, the integration of AI raises significant safety concerns in safety-critical systems. This results in a gap between economic potential and safety, the economic safety gap. But generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI, GenAI) can help close it.

Safety Engineering

Safetronic 2025 / 29.9.2025

Safety remains a challenge

Holistic safety for road vehicles is the focus of the annual Safetronic conference (November 12–13, 2025, in Leinfelden-Echterdingen). In a video discussion, Fraunhofer IKS Director Prof. Dr. Mario Trapp and Program comittee member Hans-Leo Ross, CARIAD, talk about the future of mobility.

Safetronic 2025

Safetronic 2025: Preview / 14.10.2025

What is an acceptable risk? A proposal

The safety of a product, i.e., not causing harm, is a crucial property for its persistent success on the market and avoidance of legal risks for the manufacturer. However, since perfect safety is typically not achievable, the question what defines acceptable safety and what defines acceptable risks, i.e., risk acceptance criteria (RAC), arises.

Safetronic 2025: Preview

Safetronic 2025: Preview / 15.9.2025

Without safety, new mobility solutions will fall to the wayside

Not only management consultancies, but also other strategic players see the increasing importance of Remote Driving Systems (RDS) for the transportation of the future. But is the concept safe enough? An extensive two-year operation without safety drivers has confirmed the technical feasibility and safety of RDS. And not only that: a comprehensive training framework for Remote Drivers has demonstrably improved performance and safety.

Safetronic 2025

Interview with Delphine Kervarec-Vicq / 30.9.2025

“Standards are key to understand each other in an extended eco system”

Delphine Kervarec-Vicq, Product Safety Director at Valeo, is a new member of the program committee for Safetronic, the international conference on holistic safety for road vehicles. In an interview with Safe Intelligence online magazine, she talks about her motivation for joining the committee and explains the importance of safety for automated driving.

Safety engineering

Safe Intelligence
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Articles on smart farming

Smart Farming

Digital transformation takes the field

As farmers step up their use of information and communication technology, agriculture is not only becoming more efficient, but also more sustainable and resilient. A Fraunhofer IKS webinar explored some different solutions and strategies in the field of smart farming.

Smart Farming

Future mobility

Autonomous locomotion in business use

When we think about autonomous vehicles, we usually think of self-driving cars where people are mere passengers. In the business domain, however, their potential lies in logistics. New technologies could fundamentally change the transportation of goods, making it safer and more efficient. An overview of the current status of a variety of autonomous vehicles in industry.

Future mobility

Safe Intelligence
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