With its ‘AI Telephone’ demonstrator, inIT is showcasing a special form of interaction with artificial intelligence in the special exhibition ‘A Kind of Art. Artificial Intelligence Meets (Weser) Renaissance’ at the Weser Renaissance Museum in Brake Castle. It was developed by Jannik Peters, IT specialist at inIT, and Sebastian Becker, research associate in the Mathematics and Data Science working group headed by Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann.
The idea for the demonstrator originally arose as part of Jannik Peters' thesis during his IHK training at inIT and was subsequently developed further – an example of how training projects at the institute can transition into research and exhibition practice.
Language as an interface
The AI telephone enables visitors to communicate with an AI system using voice commands. After picking up the red retro receiver from the 1980s, visitors can ask a question related to the Weser Renaissance. The system recognises the spoken text (ASR – Automatic Speech Recognition), converts it into machine-readable data and transmits it as a prompt to the computing unit of the AI cluster at TH OWL.
Processing takes place in several steps: while the AI ‘looks up’ and formulates a coherent answer, there is a short pause for thought. This makes it clear that the answer does not come immediately, but only after the data has been processed and analysed – similar to human thinking. The answer is then reproduced via text-to-speech (TTS), creating a real conversation between human and AI.
The minimalist demonstrator with its white housing and red rotary dial telephone combines analogue form with digital function – and is the only contribution to the exhibition that enables direct linguistic interaction with AI.
Support instead of replacement
‘The demonstrator is intended to show that artificial intelligence supports people rather than replacing them,’ explains Jannik Peters. ‘This is demonstrated here by looking up information in the knowledge base instead of humans searching through files.’
Sebastian Becker adds: ‘The AI phone invites users to address their concerns directly to the AI in a one-to-one context and receive prompt explanations.’
Special exhibition until mid-December
With the special exhibition ‘A KInd of Art’, the Weser Renaissance Museum at Brake Castle builds a bridge between the past and the future. It can be seen at Brake Castle in Lemgo until 14 December 2025. Visitors can discover various facets and applications of artificial intelligence there.
Further information is available at:museum-schloss-brake.de/portfolio_page/akindofart/