Pascal Kaufmann is a Swiss tech entrepreneur.
Early life
Pascal Kaufmann was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He joined the
Kantonsschule Zürcher Unterland ''Kantonsschule Zürcher Unterland'' (KZU) is a ''Langzeit und Kurzzeit-Mittelschule'' in Bülach, Switzerland in the Zurich metropolitan area
The European Metropolitan Region of Zurich (EMRZ), also Greater Zurich Area (GZA, German '), the metropo ...
(KZU) with a focus on ancient languages and philosophy. Kaufmann received his master's degree in
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...
and
Economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology are two institutes of higher education in Switzerland (part of the ETH Domain):
* Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Sw ...
(ETH) in Zurich and
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
in Evanston, Illinois, United States.
Career
In 2012, while at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
Kaufmann initiated and developed a humanoid robot called
Roboy, with
Rolf Pfeifer
Rolf Pfeifer (born 24 February 1947) is a Swiss artificial-intelligence researcher. He was a professor of computer science at the Department of Informatics at the University of Zurich, and director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, wher ...
. Roboy aims to combine insights from the field of embodied intelligence research and of
robotics
Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots.
Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...
.
Kaufmann takes on a more skeptical view on the current state of AI, in particular about the analogy that the brain is comparable to a computer.
His vision "to think with the power of 1,000 brains" gave rise to the concept of the "Corporate Brain" which is today the core technology of the software company
Starmind International which he founded with Marc Vontobel in 2010. The company is based in Zurich, Switzerland and has operations in New York and Frankfurt.
In 2017, Kaufmann initiated the non-profit Mindfire foundation dedicated to progressing AI openly, responsibly and ethically. In 2019, he gave rise to the Mindfire Group. Ultimately, to use the power of human level AI to solve our most pressing global challenges. As part of this effort, he founded Lab42 in Davos in 2022, an international research laboratory focused on developing human-level AI through a politically neutral and interdisciplinary approach. Kaufmann ist president of the Swiss AI Award dedicated to promoting artificial intelligence. In 2023, he co-founded the Swiss AI startup AlpineAI.
[https://swisstrade.com/news/detail/news/swissgpt-bringt-sichere-ki-in-unternehmen/]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufmann, Pascal
1978 births
Living people
Swiss neuroscientists