Artificial Intelligence (AI) determines the current digital transformation as the key technology. As a term encompassing a wide range of technologies that are guided by a given set of human-defined objectives and have some degree of autonomy in their actions, AI processes and responds to the data it receives, leading to learning, reasoning, planning, decision-making and creativity. Therefore, AI covers technologies that are already in widespread use, technologies that are currently under development as well as speculative inventions that might exist in the future. Within the current digital transformation, the impact of AI cannot be understated. It will continue to transform and improve the way we work, we move, and we communicate. It will continue to transform and improve our society, our administration, our industries, our economy, our health care and our security system. Thus, AI has an impact on every sector and every part of our day-to-day life.
The Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age (AIDA) was set up to present an EU Roadmap for AI that encompasses the steps the European Union needs to take in order to respond to these economic and societal challenges within the next few years. Within the global competition, the EU has already fallen behind. Significant parts of AI innovation and even more the commercialization of AI technologies take place outside of Europe. We neither take the lead in development, research or investment in AI. If we do not set clear standards for the human-centered approach to AI that is based on our core European ethical standards and democratic values, they will be determined elsewhere. The consequences of falling further behind do not only threaten our economic prosperity but also lead to an application of AI that threatens our security, including surveillance, disinformation and social scoring. In fact, to be a global power means to be a leader in AI.
Therefore, the goal of the AIDA committee and this report is an urgent call to action. It provides a holistic approach for a common, long-term position that highlights the EU’s key values and objectives relating to AI in the digital age that ensures that the digital transition is human-centric and consistent with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In line with its mandate, the report first defines the European approach to AI and reiterates its importance within the digital transformation. Instead of focusing on threats, a human-centric approach to AI based on our values will use AI for its benefits and give us the competitive edge to frame AI regulation on the global stage. Rather than an unpredictable and fully autonomous system, with the right rules, safeguards and regulations, AI is merely a tool for data processing that can revolutionize systems for the good of society.
The report thus continues by analyzing the future impact of AI in the digital age, balancing its benefits towards certain risks on the EU economy, in particular on health, infrastructure, sustainability, transport, agriculture, energy, defense, industry, democracy, e-government,
employment, skills and education. Moreover, based on this analysis, the report demonstrates the EU’s current place in the global digital competition, which uncovers several deficiencies. It shows that the EU currently does not meet any of the preconditions that enable innovation to fully capture the potential of AI and other emerging technologies. A lack of access to and sharing of high-quality data, a lack of harmonized rules and standards, high regulatory burden and a lack of funding, research, skills and infrastructure for AI lead to the EU’s stagnating competitiveness.
In order to tackle these deficiencies and with the goal to make the EU a global leader in AI, the report presents its EU Roadmap for AI with clear policy recommendations for the next years. With a holistic approach and built on the key takeaways from the previous chapters, the Roadmap underlines several horizontal goals with clear recommendations for the European Commission, EU Member States and the European Parliament.
For one, there is a clear need for a favorable regulatory environment established by dynamic law-making and modern governance. Current regulatory frameworks, both on EU and Member State level, are too fragmented, too ponderous and do not provide for legal certainty. Thus, it is necessary to speed up and streamline legislative and governance processes when it comes to digital policy. Only high-risk AI applications need to be strictly regulated in order to achieve leeway for innovation and avoid regulatory burden. Moreover, AI is entirely dependent on high-quality data. Current frameworks do not provide for timely access and sufficient sharing of data, which needs to be revised and extended.
Our ambitions on AI can only be achieved through a fully integrated and fully harmonized completed digital single market that facilitates cross-border exchange and innovation. AI requires a robust infrastructure and connectivity roll-out with access for every citizen. The digital infrastructure must be based on sustainable principles in line with the Green Deal, targeting all sectors, including agriculture, electricity, housing, transport, businesses, value chains and the circular economy. Moreover, AI will not be functional without strong deployment of broadband, fiber, edge nodes and 5G as well as making key emerging technologies such as quantum computing a priority.
In addition, it is key to achieve an ecosystem of AI excellence where every EU citizen is provided with the means to acquire digital and AI skills at all stages of education and employment. That way, we can also establish AI centers of excellence as well as increase and retain AI talent to combat brain drain and remain competitive on the global scale. In order to build trust in AI among citizens, public services and their administrative structures need to lead with example by taking up AI in e-governance and e-health.
Lastly, the EU’s AI strategy should not overlook military and security aspects that arise with its deployment. The EU needs to cooperate internationally with like-minded partners to be able to promote its human-centric vision of AI and secure the EU’s ethical principles in the global competition.
