Toward an European human AI powered by arts?

A differentiating factor for AI ‘made in Europe’ will be its human touch: a focus on the human dimension, an insistence that AI serves human needs. AI must enhance human capacity, not replace humans”

Within the STARTS initiative, we promote « AI with a human touch » as a new approach towards Artificial Intelligence from a societal and artistic perspective. It focuses less on functionality and efficiency but more on a shared system concept wher ehumans cooperate and co-exist with smart machines.

The European Commission is now launching a consultation enabling all European citizens, Member States and relevant stakeholders (including civil society, industry and academics) to provide their opinion on the White Paper and contribute to a European approach for AI.

We strongly believe that the STARTS community (artists, scientists, technologists, academics…) should be a driving force regarding this study, and make their contribution to these major societal issues.

Consultation on the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence – A European Approach

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a strategic technology that offers many benefits for citizens and the economy. It will change our lives by improving healthcare (e.g. making diagnosis more precise, enabling better prevention of diseases), increasing the efficiency of farming, contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation, improving the efficiency of production systems through predictive maintenance, increasing the security of Europeans and the protection of workers, and in many other ways that we can only begin to imagine.

At the same time, AI entails a number of potential risks, such as risks to safety, gender-based or other kinds of discrimination, opaque decision-making, or intrusion in our private lives.

The European approach for AIaims to promote Europe’s innovation capacity in the area of AI while supporting the development and uptake of ethical and trustworthy AI across the EU. According to this approach, AI should work for people and be a force for good in society.

For Europe to seize fully the opportunities that AI offers, it must develop and reinforce the necessary industrial and technological capacities. As set out in the accompanying European strategy for data, this also requires measures that will enable the EU to become a global hub for data.

The current public consultation comes along with the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence – A European Approach aimed to foster a European ecosystem of excellence and trust in AI and a Report on the safety and liability aspects of AI. The White Paper proposes:

• Measures that will streamline research, foster collaboration between Member States and increase investment into AI development and deployment;
• Policy options for a future EU regulatory framework that would determine the types of legal requirements that would apply to relevant actors, with a particular focus on high-risk applications.

This consultation enables all European citizens, Member States and relevant stakeholders (including civil society, industry and academics) to provide their opinion on the White Paper and contribute to a European approach for AI.

To this end, the following questionnaire is divided in three sections:

• Section 1refers to the specific actions, proposed in the White Paper’s Chapter 4 for the building of an ecosystem of excellence that can support the development and uptake of AI across the EU economy and public administration;
• Section 2refers to a series of options for a regulatory framework for AI, set up in the White Paper’s Chapter 5;
• Section 3refers to the Report on the safety and liability aspects of AI.

Respondents can provide their opinion by choosing the most appropriate answer among the ones suggested for each question or suggesting their own ideas in dedicated text boxes. Feedback can also be provided in a document format (e.g. position paper) that can be uploaded through the button made available at the end of the questionnaire.

*The survey will remain open until 31 May 2020 while the questions will become available in all EU languages on 4 March 2020.

Create your EU account and give your contribution on EUROPA.EU