AIRIC is a cross-department structure of Politecnico di Milano joining the main areas of expertise in Artificial Intelligence. The core of AIRIC consists of the technical skills for developing AI algorithms and tools and project management skills. The formers have their natural place at the Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering. At the same time, project management skills come from the Department of Management Engineering. AIRIC also uses the collaboration of all the other departments, both on the technical side and in the application domain.
AIRIC is composed of a coordination nucleus made up of some professors and a group of researchers to support companies to start and complete their AI revolution.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was born over 60 years ago within the IT disciplines. Its goal is to build artifacts capable of autonomously making decisions that, up until that historical moment, were entrusted to human beings.
Scientific research in this area has had various historical cycles, with springs characterized by significant expansions attracting funding and leading to important milestones, and winters characterized by contractions and skepticism about possible successes.
Since 2010, AI has been experiencing the third spring that, according to all forecasts, will last for many years to come. In 2016, a commission under the Obama presidency identified AI as the dominant technology until 2060. All nations of the world have produced similar considerations.
In 2020, AI Engineer was the most requested LinkedIn profile among all ICT ones in Italy. Also, in 2020, more than half of the companies interviewed by the AI Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano had at least one active AI project and declared a strong interest in continuing the adoption path.
In 2021, coordination between MISE, MUR, and MITD prepared a second National AI Development Strategy revision.
The National AI Development Strategy provides for actions towards the research system, companies, and public administration, in coordination with European policies. The most critical priority issues are the resources to attract and retain talent, support new businesses, and create initiatives dedicated to promoting research-business collaboration.