A Beginner's Guide to AI

Europe has brilliant researchers, ambitious founders, and world-class industry. Yet the AI race is being dominated elsewhere. In this episode, Dietmar Fischer talks with Fabian Westerheide, founder of Rise of AI, about why Europe is struggling with AI sovereignty, infrastructure, and execution, and what entrepreneurs can do right now to stay competitive.

Fabian explains how Rise of AI grew over a decade from early community meetups into a curated conference and ecosystem hub where Europe’s most relevant AI leaders meet. He also makes the case that Europe’s biggest strategic risk is dependency on American GPUs, hyperscalers, and cloud platforms, while policy, capital allocation, and digital administration move too slowly for exponential change.

You will learn what a GDPR compliant AI stack can look like, why EU AI Act compliant implementation is becoming a competitive advantage, and why Europe’s research-to-startup transfer remains painfully inefficient. This is a practical and provocative conversation about AI infrastructure, venture capital incentives, European-first tech choices, and the mindset shift required in 2026: stop waiting, start building.

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Chapters
00:00 Welcome and why Fabian chose AI
01:55 Rise of AI turns 10 years: from meetups to a curated conference
03:19 Europe’s biggest AI challenge: dependency on US cloud and GPUs
10:05 Optimists in a dystopian world: why Rise of AI exists
11:22 European AI champions and the sovereignty problem
16:45 Why Europe struggles to turn research into AI companies
19:40 2026 outlook: stop waiting, take responsibility, use AI
23:00 Where to find Fabian and Rise of AI

About Dietmar Fischer
Dietmar is a podcaster and AI marketer from Berlin. If you want to know how to get your AI or your digital marketing going, just contact him at argoberlin.com

Quotes from the Episode
“We are living the dystopia. But within this, I’m an optimist.”
“The whole stack is running on American GPUs, it’s running on American hyperscalers.”
“If you run a company, use AI, no excuses.”
“I realized back then AI will change the world.”
“You can’t put me in any box, but overall I’m dedicating 12 hours of a day for AI within Europe.”
“Don’t play the capitalistic game anymore… figure out what you want to do meaningful with your life.”

Where to find Fabian and the Rise of AI Conference:
Fabian Westerheide: Website fabian-westerheide.de
Rise of AI: Official site riseof.ai
Rise of AI Ticket Shop: riseof.ai/ticket-shop
LinkedIn: Fabian Westerheide

Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hollywood loves a good AI apocalypse—but how likely is a real-life Skynet scenario? In today's episode of A Beginner's Guide to AI, Professor GePhardT takes you on an entertaining yet eye-opening journey into Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
From understanding why films like The Terminator shape our deepest AI anxieties, to real-world safety measures inspired by these sci-fi nightmares, this episode breaks down exactly how humanity can steer advanced AI towards a beneficial future—rather than a robotic uprising.
Expect to hear why a smart kitchen assistant could unintentionally cause chaos, how fictional tales are influencing actual AI research, and what top thinkers like Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have warned us about. It's a conversation packed with fascinating examples, practical tips, and an honest look at how we're preparing for AGI today.

Tune in to get my thoughts, don't forget to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribe to our Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!
Want to get in contact? Write me an email: [email protected]

This podcast was generated with the help of ChatGPT, Mistral and Claude 3. We do fact check with human eyes, but there still might be hallucinations in the output. And, by the way, it's read by an AI voice.

Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Yvette Schmitter unpacks the uncomfortable truth about modern AI: how convenience turns citizens into data points.
We go deep on AI privacy, data ethics, and the industry incentives that drive data brokers, invasive biometrics, and “consent theater” in Terms of Service.
Yvette blends engineering chops with no-nonsense clarity to show what needs to change—and what you can do today.

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Key highlights:
AI privacy explained in real-world terms—what you trade away when you click Accept

Data brokers 101: how your info is collected, bundled, and resold

The “action figure” experiment: a vivid story about bias and representation in AI imagery

Biometrics and identity: faces, voice prints, and why “frictionless” can be risky

Regulatory theater vs. meaningful guardrails—and where pro-innovation actually fits

Banks, voice recognition, and moving money: the security-privacy tradeoff

Quotes from the Episode
“Pro-innovation. I love innovation. I’m anti-bullshit.”

“Since we don’t buy votes, why would we buy people’s data?”

Chapters
00:00 Introductions and Setup
03:27 The Consent Illusion & Data Brokers: Turning People into Data Points
04:40 The “Action Figure” AI Fail & Biometrics and Identity
12:59 Terms of Service – Read Before You Play
19:59 Regulatory Theater and Real-World Harms
24:03 Pro-Innovation vs Guardrails – Finding the Line
45:59 Banks, Voice Recognition, and Moving Money
56:49 Final Thoughts – Sensible Guardrails for AI Startups

Where to find Yvette Schmitter
You can contact her via LinkedIn, or the Fusion Collective website 🚀

post⁠ on being “Huang’d” by ChatGPT when she asked it to turn her into a “Cloud Jedi." Also a recent Substack ⁠article⁠ that takes it a step further. 
- EU AI Code of Conduct: 26 companies signed, META did not 
- Layoff data, the numbers:
Microsoft laid off 19,175 people  

IBM was refreshingly honest about replacing 200 HR employees with chatbots 

Intel cut 33,900 jobs, 20% of their workforce, while pivoting to AI services. 

- The Register: Attributed by Hood to 'go-to-market execution challenges'
- Channelweb: "Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said that non-AI Azure sales saw 'go-to-market execution challenges' in the vendor's 'scale motion"
- SiliconANGLE: "causing the Microsoft stock price to fall more than 4% in extended trading"
- Yahoo Finance: "Microsoft shares tumbled as much as 5% in extended trading Wednesday"
- Check out this graphic depicting tech companies with the largest layoffs in 2025
- Microsoft: Amy Hood's "Go-to-Market Execution Challenges" Quote:$22.6 Billion Capital ExpenditureGeekWire: "For the quarter, Microsoft reported capital expenditures of $22.6 billion, a new record high"Stock Drop & Market Reaction."
 ---Tune in to get my thoughts, and don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter!

Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Beginner’s Guide to AI, host Dietmar Fischer speaks with Michael Housman, AI leader, econometrician, and author of the upcoming book Future Proof. Together, they unpack how leaders can future-proof their businesses with AI and why the most important AI transformation doesn’t start with technology, but with people.

You’ll learn why companies that hesitate risk falling behind, how even small AI wins can unlock massive productivity, and why AI literacy programs are becoming essential across organizations. Michael explains how AI can act as a strategic thought partner for executives, how to identify high-impact opportunities, and why slow-moving industries often face the biggest AI disruption ahead.

From eliminating unconscious bias in hiring to redesigning workflows and supercharging marketing output, this episode is packed with practical examples and leadership insights based on real company transformations.

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Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes, don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter: beginnersguide.nl
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🥸 About Dietmar Fischer:
Dietmar is a podcaster and AI marketer from Berlin. If you want to learn how to grow your AI or digital marketing capabilities, just reach out to him at argoberlin.com

💎 Quotes from the Episode
“Think of AI not as a tool but as a collaborator and a thought partner.”
“Technology is easy. People are hard. Adoption is always the biggest challenge.”
“You can’t future-proof your business unless the C-suite uses AI themselves.”

🧾 Chapters
00:00 Welcome to the Episode
02:10 Why Leaders Need to Future-Proof Their Businesses with AI
07:55 How Companies Should Start with AI: Practical First Steps
14:40 AI Literacy, Training, and Overcoming Organizational Resistance
22:30 AI as a Thought Partner: New Leadership Models
31:15 The Future of Work, Bias, and Smarter Decision-Making
38:42 Where to Find Michael Housman and Learn More

Where to Find Michael Housman
Website: michaelhousman.com
AIcelerator: ai-ccelerator.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelhousman

Music credit: “Modern Situations” by Unicorn Heads
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of A Beginner’s Guide to AI, Professor GePhardT takes The Cluetrain Manifesto’s famous idea markets are conversations and stress tests it in the age of generative AI. In 1999, Cluetrain demanded that brands stop sounding like machines and start speaking with a human voice. Today, AI can generate that human sounding voice on demand, which creates a new problem: it becomes easy to sound authentic while becoming less trustworthy.

You will learn why conversational marketing is not about posting more, replying faster, or writing prettier copy. It is about credibility in public. This episode breaks down the difference between tone and truth, why AI customer service chatbots can create brand risk when they guess, and how to use human in the loop design so your AI supports real accountability instead of manufacturing polite noise.

We also unpack a real cautionary case: Moffatt v Air Canada. A website chatbot provided incorrect guidance about bereavement fares, the customer relied on it, and compensation was ordered. It is a sharp reminder that when AI speaks on your website, customers experience it as the company speaking.

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Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes, don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter: beginnersguide.nl
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💬 Quotes from the Episode
“AI makes language cheap, and when language is cheap, trust becomes the scarce ingredient.”
“Responsiveness can masquerade as empathy.”
“When AI speaks in your name, its answers become part of your promises, not just part of your tone.”
“You can talk beautifully about cake while still serving bad cake.”
“A chatbot is not a neutral tool. It is a brand voice.”
“In 1999 the challenge was speaking human. Now the challenge is acting human.” 🎧

About Dietmar Fischer:
Dietmar is a podcaster and AI marketer from Berlin. If you want to know how to get your AI or your digital marketing going, just contact him at argoberlin.com

🕒 Chapters
00:00 Why Cluetrain matters again in the AI era
04:10 Markets are conversations and why the human voice cannot be faked
10:05 AI makes language cheap and trust expensive
18:30 The authenticity trap: tone without accountability
27:40 Case study: Air Canada chatbot and the cost of confident wrong answers
36:20 Practical framework: human in the loop and conversation design

✅ Key topics and keywords
Cluetrain Manifesto and AI
Markets are conversations AI
Conversational marketing AI
AI brand voice authenticity
AI trust and accountability
Chatbot hallucinations customer support
Chatbot legal liability
Human in the loop chatbot design

Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.