Digital Night 2026 in Winterthur attracts record number of visitors

(CONNECT) Digital Winterthur and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) gave interested members of the public an overview of how far autonomous agentic models and robotics have actually come at their 5th Digital Night. According to a press release, the focus was not on the technical possibilities of robots, but on the question of when robotics can make a difference.

Robert MacKenzie, Partner at Ellipsis Ventures, therefore made it clear that 99 percent performance is not enough for robotic systems. Instead, these systems are only sufficiently reliable to enter and survive on the market from 99.999 percent. The two ZHAW professors Theresa Schmiedel, Professor of Information Systems, and Alexandre de Spindler, Professor of Information Systems, spoke about a major shortcoming of robots: their lack of social intelligence. You not only have to recognize people, but also understand their intentions.

The advertising and film industry is also evolving thanks to AI. Manuel Flurin Hendry, film director and researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and the Zurich University of the Arts, illustrated how this happens. René Raber, CTO at Microsoft Switzerland, showed how digital sovereignty is implemented in Switzerland. He then discussed with Manuela Hug, founder of KI Power Swiss, how employees can be trained in the use of AI.

"The record attendance of 130 participants at the Digital Night showed that there is a great deal of interest and many questions about AI in Winterthur," Andri Fabig, President of Digital Winterthur, is quoted as saying. He took the opportunity to refer to the first Digital Impact Day, which will take place on September 10 at the Technorama in Winterthur, with four practice-oriented workshops, a keynote speech and a panel discussion. Interested parties can already register on a waiting list. ce/mm