Generative AI in Germany: Artificial intelligence in society and companies

In the public perception, the specific application ChatGPT often symbolises generative AI, as an analysis of internet search queries and newspaper articles in Germany shows. However, the general interest in AI also benefits from this in the long term. An analysis of online job advertisements, on the other hand, shows that companies are not only showing interest in generative AI, but are increasingly identifying specific use cases in their companies and looking for the relevant skills. ChatGPT also played a decisive role in the first half of 2023 and characterised the skills profile of many job advertisements. However, in the second half of the year, companies are increasingly moving away from this focus. Instead, companies are taking a closer look at other applications or fields of application and the underlying models of generative AI. They want to develop their own applications that are customised to the respective needs and business models of the companies. Nevertheless, ChatGPT has had an innovation-driving effect that has favoured this development. For example, there is a tendency for large companies in particular to want to develop personalised closed solutions in which data does not leave the company network.

This could be an indication that companies in Germany have increasingly focussed on the opportunities and, in particular, the costs and risks associated with generative AI. The reason is that the use of generative AI raises copyright, liability and data protection issues, some of which have not yet been conclusively clarified. The effects of the recently passed AI Act are also still largely unclear. From a regional perspective, company requirements are particularly high in the south-western cities of Germany as well as in Berlin and the neighbouring areas. Similar cluster effects are recognisable in the regions around Munich, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Heidelberg as well as Cologne and Bonn. Companies from the technology and vehicle construction sectors in particular, as well as research institutions, advertise many job vacancies relating to generative AI. In Berlin and Munich, many AI start-ups are also driving demand for generative AI.