Artificial intelligence is set to bring sweeping change to modern life, but at an industrial fair in Germany many companies wonder how they fit into the tech revolution.

"We use ChatGPT a bit," shrugged one business representative, from a metals processor based in southern Germany, at this week's Hannover Messe.

The expo grouping 4,000 firms promised visitors ways to "experience the future" and explore AI's "practical applications in areas such as production, robotics and energy, all at their own pace".

One eye-catching display -- a gigantic Rolls-Royce aircraft engine whose production was optimised by AI from Microsoft and German company Siemens -- drew many curious onlookers.

But on the sidelines, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are the backbone of Germany's economy -- the so-called Mittelstand -- often had less to say on the subject.

Andrea Raaf of Herz Aetztechnik, which uses lasers to make vehicle and electronics parts, said AI was not up to the job.

"The parts we manufacture are very individual, so we can't really see the point of AI," she told AFP.

Others have been more........

© International Business Times