The world's elite in Artificial Intelligence will meet in Santiago de Compostela in 2024

The European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI) awards for the second time to USC the organisation of ECAI, the most important AI event in Europe.

The University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) will once again host in 2024 the ECAI (European Conference on Artificial Intelligence), the most important scientific meeting in Europe in the field of Artificial Intelligence, which will return to Santiago de Compostela for the second time in four years thanks to CiTIUS (Singular Centre for Research in Intelligent Technologies). This has been announced by the European Association of Artificial Intelligence (EurAI), after the meeting of its General Assembly in Vienna, the venue for this year's edition of the congress.

The ECAI 2024 Organising Committee, which will once again be chaired by CiTIUS researchers Senén Barro (scientific director of the centre) and Alberto Bugarín (director of the Intelligent Systems Group of the USC and coordinator of the degree in Artificial Intelligence that begins to be taught in Galicia next September), is extremely satisfied: "it is truly exceptional that ECAI is returning to Santiago de Compostela just four years after the organisation of the 2020 edition in the city, which finally had to be held in a completely digital format due to the pandemic", say the researchers, who recall how "in just a few months we reinvented a congress planned to be held in person, to turn it into a completely virtual meeting... it was a milestone; something like changing the plane's engine in mid-flight".

This is borne out by the figures for the congress, which was attended by more than 5,000 participants from 120 different countries, and at which almost 400 research papers were presented.

Both agree that "the success of that edition and the leading role of the University of Santiago de Compostela in the field of Artificial Intelligence have undoubtedly been decisive in organising this event again in the city, which will also coincide with the anniversary of its half-centenary". The first ECAI took place in 1974, so the 2024 edition in Santiago de Compostela will mark the celebration of half a century of life of this event, which is among the three most important in the world in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

Past, present and future of AI

The ECAI conference is Europe's most important event on Artificial Intelligence R&D&I, and to date, it has brought together the international scientific elite in this field every two years; however, given the interest and constant progress in the field, the conference will soon move from being held every two years to being organised on an annual basis.

Thousands of researchers, professionals from the world of business and public administrations, entrepreneurs and investors from the five continents have participated in the last editions of the congress. ECAI is an obligatory meeting point for professionals in the sector, where the state of the art in research and technological development in Artificial Intelligence is shown; it is attended by both leading companies worldwide and recently created startups, with highly innovative business models, products and services.

ECAI2024 will have an exceptional scientific-technological content, organised in plenary lectures, scientific sessions, workshops and seminars, where the international scientific elite will present their most important and recent research results, while analysing issues of social, economic, legislative, political and ethical interest on AI, and its current and future challenges.

ECAI2024 will also include round tables, a specific programme to support and give visibility to young researchers in this field, and the presentation of AI-based startups, as well as a business and institutional exhibition space where the latest developments and applications of AI worldwide will be shown. An offer of first-rate scientific content at international level, which will make Santiago de Compostela the world capital of Artificial Intelligence in October 2024.