Exploring the World of AI – Guest Lecture at the University of Applied Sciences Salzburg

Today I had the opportunity to give a guest lecture at FH Salzburg, focusing on the dynamic field of Artificial Intelligence. We covered a range of topics—from foundational concepts to practical tools—aimed at providing a clear picture of where AI stands today.

We started by looking at the big players in AI—OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others—each pushing innovation in different directions. From language models to multimodal systems, the landscape is evolving rapidly.

The discussion also covered the hardware powering AI, including GPUs, TPUs, and dedicated AI chips. These form the backbone of today’s compute-heavy models.

We explored the modalities AI can process: text, images, audio, video, and code. Each opens up unique capabilities, from generating visuals to analyzing conversations or writing scripts.

I introduced several tools and platforms that make these technologies accessible—highlighting real-world use cases and integrations that bridge the gap between research and application.

As a live demo, I showed a simple Python-based AI-assisted proposal generator, illustrating how even basic setups can support and speed up creative workflows.

The key takeaway? Like a carpenter uses different tools for different tasks, we too benefit from using different AI providers and models depending on the job. There’s no one-size-fits-all—knowing when to use which tool is part of the craft.

Thanks to Mag. Christoph Haudek (salescompetence.at) for the invitation and the students to participate—it was a great session!