Five Reasons to attend our conference “The AI Shift”

May 9, 2025 /

What’s the value in attending IATM conferences? During their April meeting, IATM’s Board members collected five major reasons. Have a look at the video below to find out more or enjoy the text version in this post. 😉

Here are five reasons to attend IATM’s 48th conference “The AI Shift: Transforming Transport and Communication Museums”:

1. Meet new people

At our conferences, we always ensure to leave enough room for two major aspects: Learning more on a particular topic and getting to know each other. Our events are places for networking and discussions. IATM is a familial network, thus, we also value the breaks, get togethers and study visit that shape the programme alongside the presentations and workshops.

2. AI is with us, we shouldn’t be watching from the sideline

As Sam Mullins, former director of the London Transport Museum, puts it: “AI is with us – whether we like it or not.” The application of artificial intelligence in its simplest form is available to most of us in the palm of our hands. It can perform basic tasks and assist us easily. For example through answering simple prompts in a Large Language Model (LLM) such as ChatGPT or Gemini. Thus, it makes sense to think about the possibilities of AI as a tool. Whether for basics, as a support or even as an autonomous entity. The latter acting based on (curated) information provided by us and following a given set of rules. Lastly, especially museums of communication and technical history have an interest in the matter based on their main topics.

3. Get to know museums in Germany 

At IATM’s conferences you gain insights into local museums and the country’s “museum scape”. This year, we will take you to Mannheim and Frankfurt am Main. Here, the Museum for Communication Frankfurt and the TECHNOSEUM Mannheim await. Both are historic institutions in ongoing transition – bringing together past, present and future of communication and technology.

4. Drop your fear of AI

IBM’s “Deep Blue” winning a game of chess against then reigning world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997 can be looked at in different ways. Was it a victory, a glimpse at the chance, a defeat?
We prefer one of the more positive takes. AI is an opportunity, so let’s see what it can do for us and how we can approach it. We’ll take you along for the first and the next steps at the conference!

5. Get to know AI, understand its (dis-)advantages

With a positive approach in the back, we also want to take a holistic look at the matter. What are the opportunities and challenges of using and applying AI? It can enhance our work and creates new opportunities for our visitors. At the same time, AI implementations can pose a gateway to misinformation or produce faulty results. We will discuss the technology’s advantages and dive into responses to its disadvantages and possible threats at the conference.

We are looking forward to you joining the conversation this September!