Interest was high when the IBA hosted its Research WeeK–event on Wednesday, focusing on AI agents and digital “humans”, which we increasingly encounter when interacting with both businesses and public authorities.

Tommy Jensen, a partner at the accountancy firm MyBookkeeper, was among those who managed to secure one of the free tickets for the sold-out event.
“In our company, we will be using more AI in our day-to-day work. So I hope Research Week can give us inspiration on how to integrate AI into a business like ours. When it comes to AI, we need to define both ‘what do we want?’ and ‘what are we allowed to do?’,” explains Tommy Jensen, who brought the company’s Marketing Coordinator, Natasha V. Knudsen, with him to Research Week at the IBA.

Among the speakers was Jesper Outzen, who teaches the practical application of artificial intelligence at the IBA. He demonstrated how simple it can be to create your own AI agent. However, he also explained how challenging it can be to ensure that an AI agent performs a task exactly as originally intended.
“It is not about how many AI agents you can build and deploy. It is about having only those that genuinely provide value in your everyday work,” Jesper Outzen explained.

Among the audience was also Helene F. Førrislund, who had actually been taught by Jesper when she studied at the IBA ten years ago. She now runs her own company, Build Team Balance, which specialises in DISC workshops and team-building activities.
“This is my first visit to the IBA’s new building, so that is a positive experience in itself. Beyond that, I hope Research Week can give me a sense of whether AI can also create value in my business,” says Helene.

In addition to Jesper Outzen, she and the other participants heard presentations from, among others, the IBA’s Anne Dorthe Larsen, who presented the findings of the research project When AI Feels Human, conducted together with her colleague Edward Abel from SDU. Anne Gerdes spoke about AI Ethics in Practice, before Lasse Jonasson from the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies concluded the event with a presentation on AI transformation.
Research Week is an annual science festival.
Each year, approximately 700 free events and lectures are held across Denmark during the festival week, attracting more than 50,000 visitors.
The aim is to highlight how research and innovation contribute to solving society’s challenges.