Switzerland and AI: Building responsible, open, and sovereign innovation

In this interview, Professor Martin Jaggi of EPFL presents Switzerland’s emerging role in the field through the Swiss AI Initiative and its flagship model Apertus, highlighting a vision built on openness, multilingual capability, and technological sovereignty. He also discusses the benefits and limits of AI, as well as the need for responsible development and human oversight.

AI has rapidly entered everyday life for millions of people. Do you believe we can already describe this as a technological revolution? 

It is moving fast, and in my opinion can be counted as a revolution, in the sense that it has had significant and far-reaching impacts that fundamentally transform societal structures and behaviors.

Some executives view AI as a kind of “magic tool” that can solve every problem. What would you say to them about their expectations of what AI can realistically deliver?

The tricky bit is the “jagged” profile of the capabilities of AI. While it reaches superhuman level in several areas (such as mathematics and software engineering), it can fall short in many unexpected ways, sometimes on problems that are easy for humans. It is important to carefully measure capabilities and limitations, and their progression over time as models evolve, and to establish practical ways for human oversight and collaboration.