Finland’s former prime minister and a Ugandan climate activist received it. Now the prize is being awarded for the third time – to a proven tech expert from the USA.
The American AI expert and chairwoman of the non-profit Signal Foundation, Meredith Whittaker, will receive the Helmut Schmidt Future Prize this year. The prize will be awarded on May 15th in Hamburg’s Thalia Theater, as the “Zeit” publishing group in Hamburg announced.
“Artificial intelligence is more than ever a human issue; the question of how to develop it in a humane and public interest-oriented manner is extremely topical. If anyone can help us make progress, it should be Meredith Whittaker,” the jury explained its decision, according to the statement. “Whether as a rebellious Google developer, as a professor at New York University or as a government advisor – she is committed to the responsible and humane development of AI.”
The Helmut Schmidt Future Prize is awarded by the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation and the Hamburg think tank The New Institute. The award recognizes innovative achievements in the areas of democracy, society and technology. It is only being awarded for the third time. In 2023 the prize went to the then Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin. In 2022, the Ugandan climate protection activist Vanessa Nakate was honored.
Source: Stern
