Providing AI expertise as an infrastructure in academia

Artificial intelligence (AI) is proliferating and developing faster than any domain scientist can adapt. To support the scientific enterprise in the Helmholtz association, a network of AI specialists has been set up to disseminate AI expertise as an infrastructure among domain scientists. As this effort exposes an evolutionary step in science organization in Germany, this article aspires to describe our setup, goals, and motivations. We comment on past experiences, current developments, and future ideas as we bring our expertise as an infrastructure closer to scientists across our organization. We hope that this offers a brief yet insightful view of our activities as well as inspiration for other science organizations.