Dear members of the AI ​​focus group!



On Monday, August 10, 2026 , our monthly AI focus group meeting of the digitalHUB Aachen took place – right in the middle of summer vacation and in sweltering summer temperatures. All the more impressive: with 63 registrations, the interest was once again enormous. 63 registrations during the vacation period – pretty amazing! 😊



The following is a summary of the most important content of the meeting, presented "in text form" :

(The meeting's Miro board with presentations, links and further details can be found  here  – password as always: “FGKIAachen”)



News from the region / AI events

The AI ​​Events working group has once again compiled numerous exciting events from the region. As usual, you can find the presented dates and further information on the Miro board.



A new idea has been added that will allow us to benefit even more from the knowledge and experience within our group in the future: Anyone who attends a supra-regional AI conference, trade fair or other interesting event is welcome to briefly share their personal impressions, highlights and key insights at the next focus group meeting.



This way, even those who couldn't attend can get an impression of interesting events – and we bring even more experience from the vast world of AI into our discussion.



AI focus group visits MachBAR

Before our next regular meeting, a special event is coming up: On September 7th, as part of our series “AI Focus Group visits…”, we will be visiting the MachBAR of the Aachen Chamber of Skilled Crafts .



Under the motto "Craftsmanship meets digitalization, robotics and AI", we want to look at the influence these technologies already have on the craft sector today – and what developments we can expect there in the coming years.



All information and registration details can be found here:  AI Focus Group visits MachBAR 



AI Tool/Tip of the Month: PromptCowboy

Frank B. presented PromptCowboy , a deliberately simple but very practical tool that allows structured and significantly better prompts to be generated from just a few pieces of information.



What's exciting isn't just the improved result: the generated prompts also provide excellent insight into the information and structure that make a good prompt . The tool thus not only offers immediate help but also supports users in formulating their own prompts more effectively in the future.



Introductions

After the introductory round was cancelled in July in favor of our specialist group speed dating event, it took place as usual this time. Three people took the opportunity to briefly introduce themselves, their professional backgrounds, and their experience with AI – including both familiar faces and someone attending our focus group meeting for the first time.



A look back at the specialist group speed dating event

Our specialist group speed dating event, which we held for the first time in July, generated a tremendous response. The specialist groups were able to take away numerous concrete suggestions, requests, and ideas – both regarding their thematic priorities and regarding formats and potential new activities.



The results are now being evaluated within the individual working groups. Initial conclusions, adjustments, and new ideas will be presented gradually at upcoming meetings.



Many thanks again to everyone for their dedicated cooperation – and especially to the specialist group spokespersons who are now processing the many responses!



News from the Compliance Working Group

This time, the Compliance working group addressed a topic that immediately attracted a lot of attention: current developments surrounding the EU AI Act and, in particular, the transparency obligations for AI-generated or AI-manipulated content.



The focus was on the question of under what conditions AI-generated images, texts and other content will have to be labelled in the future , and what this means in practical terms for companies and their communication.



The numerous inquiries clearly demonstrated the high demand for information on this topic. It's quite possible, therefore, that we will dedicate a separate special event to this subject.



Keynote speech: “Obsidian meets AI – two paths to personal knowledge and workspace”

Philipp G. and Hartmut R. jointly designed our keynote speech – and in doing so, they demonstrated two very different approaches to how Obsidian can be used as a personal knowledge and workspace and combined with AI.



The differences between the two approaches made the presentation particularly interesting: Instead of a "right" way, it became clear how flexibly Obsidian can be adapted to very different requirements and ways of working.



The ensuing discussion quickly moved beyond personal involvement. How could such a solution function within the company and the team ? How can permissions and shared knowledge be effectively organized? And above all: How can access be created that works not only for technically savvy individuals?



These questions have already given rise to the idea for a possible continuation – perhaps even more strongly in the direction of an LLM wiki , where the existing knowledge is not only made accessible by LLMs, but the wiki itself can be maintained, structured, and further developed with the help of LLMs. An exciting approach that we will certainly revisit.



September Outlook: Focus on Avatars

In September, for the first time, we want to examine a topic across several program items from different perspectives: AI avatars .



Plans include a short film, an interview, and a detailed keynote presentation . We want to not only showcase current technological possibilities but also examine concrete applications, experiences, and open questions.



If anyone would like to present an interesting avatar tool, a special use case, or a practical tip for our "AI Tool/Tip of the Month" section , please feel free to contact us!



End of the evening with pizza and drinks.

This meeting, too, didn't end with the final presentation slide. Over pizza and cold drinks, the evening's topics were discussed in greater depth – from Obsidian and the LLM Wiki to compliance, the specialist groups, and numerous individual AI projects.



The fact that the networking lasted well past 9 p.m. this time probably speaks for itself. 😊



A heartfelt thank you goes once again to digitalHUB Aachen and EDIH for pizza and drinks.



A thoroughly successful evening – with stimulating ideas, many questions, intensive discussions, and once again, impressive participation. Thank you all so much!



Next meeting

Our next regular meeting will take place on Monday, September 14, 2026 at 5:00 PM in the digitalHUB Aachen.



We hope to see many of you before that, on September 7th, when we visit MachBAR !



That's all for now.



We look forward to seeing you again in September!



Stefan and Alex