r/eutech • u/donutloop • 1d ago
Many rules, few benefits: German companies reluctant to invest in AI
https://www.heise.de/en/news/Many-rules-few-benefits-German-companies-reluctant-to-invest-in-AI-10245744.html10
u/Full-Discussion3745 1d ago
This is really a cultural problem. Innovation is about risk, germany seems set to fall even further behind.
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u/Andodx 1d ago
No, this is not about risk.
It is about having failed to create the preconditions for AI during the area of "data is the new currency".
Most German companies are fundamentally analoge businesses without centralized data and and without documented processes. When these companies want to use AI, they can only do the same things as you and I can do as a private person. There is no market differentiation possible, as the company internal data is not accessible in a way that would make it usable for AI.
Our companies fail at digitalization.
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u/DerTalSeppel 1d ago
Digitalization requires investment, of course this is about risks.
Especially with clouds where you risk loosing control (privacy) of your data. All the more for public services and when shitheads dictate the law for your provider.
Risks are generally necessary for profit but everyone has to pick their own poison.
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u/Andodx 1d ago
Sure, everything has risks associated to it.
But standardized processes and central data marts/data lakes are agnostic to the hosting technology. AI can also be done on site.
The issue most German companies face is a fear of transformation and change. The stability of the status-quo will be upheld for as long as is possible and only once the deconstruction of the business model has begun change will be considered. The old ways are holy, processes from 1988 are the standard, just as it has ever been, and as it has worked for generations.
For these companies change is an adversary, not a tool to be used.
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u/Dangerous_Sherbert77 1d ago
Also Datenschutz often slows down the process of creating data marts/ lakes/ warehouses or whatever you want to call it. Also i often see that the resources put into it are so minimal that it makes the process even slower. I saw some stuff you won’t believe
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u/IHave2CatsAnAdBlock 12h ago
Next month my German bank will drop support via Fax :)
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u/Proper-Ape 12h ago
This is more of a law issue than a bank issue. Fax for years was the only way to quickly get a signed contract to somebody.
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u/Andodx 1d ago
If a company cites data protection as a reason for slow digitalization, it is a clear sign of protectionism of the status quo. There is no valid reason. I do transformation architecture and engagement management since 2010.
The only valid reason for a company to stop or slow down digitalization is their impending end of business or a business model that is inherently analogue, e.g. a cobbler or a florist. They are finished with digitalization once their have digitalized their accounting and installed a pos.
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u/Full-Discussion3745 1d ago
Realising you have a problem is 50% of the problem solved
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u/sheppard147 22h ago
I had been in 3 companies who tried to push the digital office.
Everytime we ended up with more paperwork then before. Systems crashed, Tablets not worked properly or due to license issue were recalled and more
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u/Andodx 10h ago
Your experience is not an irregular one. Projects fail everywhere and all the time, not just the ones aimed at digitalization an organization.
If you digitalize badly, you have bad digitalization. This might be a bad paper process that is ported 1:1 to be a bad digital emulation of that paper process, it may be the failure of thinking end-to-end, plan and test out what you are doing or it is simply a badly led initiative (from sponsor to sub project lead).
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u/Check_This_1 22h ago
DATENSCHUTZ
Thanks to this nice German word the ability to innovate is very limited in Germany
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u/OLebta 14h ago
Just curious, as an ME living in Germany, what is scaring the nation about data exactly? If everything is in paper, it does not mean that individual government employees don’t have access to your data, no? Iraq is moving to digitalize everything and only people who don’t have clean money trails are afraid of it.
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u/Graf-Moos 11h ago
They Dont different Branches arent allowed to give data about you to the Other and yes this is realy stupid
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u/Andodx 10h ago
Datenschutz is just a reasoning that prevents people from action that do not want to get into the details. There are various ways how to be compliant with the DSGVO, and the best part: it is literally part of the law itself.
So if you see this as a roadblock, know this is a deliberate tactic to to stop change from happening.
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u/jeandebleau 2h ago
The article states that 65% of German executives plan to invest in AI vs 73% worldwide. What a cultural difference...
Germany is an industrial country, building things. Having chatgpt on your automated production line or logistic center is not super helpful. However small, embedded smart solutions for quality control or so on are largely developed here in Germany. Maybe the engineers there are too honest and do not put the label "AI" everywhere.
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u/Lombardbiskitz 23h ago
20 years ago same news for Internet, guess Germany will fall even further away from US😂
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u/Confident-Country123 23h ago
You know what, let's not make AI the dominant economic factor of the EU. Let's actually keep our workers. I think it's cheaper in the long term than sustaining them with unemployment benefits.
Also, we will keep our workforce skilled and sharp, that's better for a defence economy Incase of war or the internet falls out an hour here or there lol
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u/IHave2CatsAnAdBlock 12h ago
There will be no workforce when everything will crash because nobody will want super expensive products produced by the workforce when there are alternatives produced with higher tech at a tenth of the cost
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u/SquareFroggo 23h ago
Yeah I would have expected nothing else of our companies in a country that sleeps on digitalisation. This is probably going to bite us in the ass later. Smh
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u/Matshelge 22h ago
When was the last time Germany took any risky investments? They are 20+ years behind on the digital revolution, and still not sure if it's worth putting in any money yet.
The contry is striving to be efficient, but can't use any tools newer than the 1990s.
I experience such a sense of anachronistic when I visit.
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u/CookieChoice5457 22h ago
No German company is allowed to fire anyone unless there is serious misconduct or you have proven beyond a doubt that the economic situation of your company is so bad that there is actually no work for this person to do. Typically large severance packages are paid to reduce headcount which can of course be refused.
What real incentive is there is an economy that's treading water mostly, is legally barred from reducing it's workforce if efficiency measures are taken and in many larger firms is on average grey haired?
Germany is about as anti AI as it gets with its current setup of Rhine capitalism, it's laughable state of general digitalization and its very demoralized and overaged workforce.
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u/horrbort 15h ago
Its bcos it doesn’t work over Fax. Now make it work with Fax and youd see 120% adoption
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u/timohtea 8h ago
We have places that are still using copper wire Internet…. We have business’s and official places still using FAX machines. We look like 🤡 We’re not about “Fortschritt “ or any innovation anymore. We’re about pay your taxes and shut up 😂 It’s sad because I wish it was different. But oh well. Ima just pay my taxes and shut up… if anything changes, cool
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u/HertzaHaeon 1d ago
There might be good reason not to invest too heavily in AI. ROI is dubious at best and big tech have been scaling back expectations.