Next week, Santiago will host an event on the regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Europe, a series of meetings with international experts organized by CiTIUS
*The Singular Research Centre in Intelligent Technologies of the University of Santiago de Compostela (CiTIUS-USC) is promoting a crucial event to discuss the regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a hot topic that will revolutionise the way modern societies interact with technology.*
"Artificial Intelligence is the most transformative technology ever developed by humankind, with an unprecedented impact on everything related to social, economic, labour and privacy issues." Whether or not one agrees with these enthusiastic words of Senén Barro (Scientific Director of the Intelligent Technologies Research Centre of the USC, CiTIUS), there is now little doubt that technology is advancing faster than ever, with artificial intelligence at the forefront of this process. AI is reshaping the world and changing the lives of people and society, becoming not only "an additional technology" but, increasingly, a part of our everyday life: interacting with your digital assistant, asking it to play your favourite music, using a text corrector to help you write an efficient email, or using navigation applications that reroute you taking into account traffic and road works are no longer mere fantasies that belong to the realm of imagination.
Due to its potential and high-tech innovations, AI can provide a wide range of benefits across the social, economic and environmental spectrum. But, at the same time, and because of its rapid growth and the increase in its applications and capabilities, AI carries several potential risks, such as conflicts over privacy, inequality, opacity in decision-making, fairness and bias, or security.
Aware of this, and in line with its concern to properly regulate the development and use of AI, the European Commission has promoted several initiatives to establish the principles of safe and trustworthy AI. In 2019, the High-Level Expert Group on AI presented Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. Two years later, on 21 April 2021, the European Commission published a regulatory framework to oversee AI, establishing harmonised rules on the subject, which was eventually called the Artificial Intelligence Act.
EU Member States have also realised that they must keep pace with advances in AI. Many of them have already adopted national strategies on the matter, while others are currently in the final drafting stage. Since a Europe-centred approach to AI is essential, the EU has launched measures to strengthen coordination mechanisms and provide analysis and studies through the creation of AI Watch, an initiative of the European Commission to monitor and facilitate the implementation of the European Strategy for AI.
The right meeting at the right time
With the aim of discussing all these crucial issues, the Singular Research Centre in Intelligent Technologies of the University of Santiago de Compostela (CiTIUS) will host next week a series of meetings with highly renowned experts, who will come together over the course of three days in an event entitled "European Week for AI Regulation". This workshop aims to raise awareness of and stimulate debate on AI regulation, and will be structured around three interactive thematic panels: "Socioeconomic impact of AI regulation", "Building trust through explainable AI that complies with European AI regulation" and "A human-centred approach to unbiased AI in line with European values and regulation".
The event is open to the public and will be held in hybrid format, with both on-site and online attendees, focusing on a multi-stakeholder approach to bring together representatives from the private sector, academia, civil society and governments.
Although there is still time to go and the road ahead will necessarily be long, the event organisers anticipate that, if the European Strategy for AI is finally approved as conceived, the resulting law will be the most restrictive AI regulation in the world: "its impact will not only affect our personal lives, but will also affect us as consumers, employees, companies and public administrations, and even research in this field," Barro says. "Its importance is such that we have a responsibility to be informed and even to be active in the debate and in generating proposals in this regard," he concludes.
"Artificial Intelligence is the most transformative technology ever developed by humankind, with an unprecedented impact on everything related to social, economic, labour and privacy issues." Whether or not one agrees with these enthusiastic words of Senén Barro (Scientific Director of the Intelligent Technologies Research Centre of the USC, CiTIUS), there is now little doubt that technology is advancing faster than ever, with artificial intelligence at the forefront of this process. AI is reshaping the world and changing the lives of people and society, becoming not only "an additional technology" but, increasingly, a part of our everyday life: interacting with your digital assistant, asking it to play your favourite music, using a text corrector to help you write an efficient email, or using navigation applications that reroute you taking into account traffic and road works are no longer mere fantasies that belong to the realm of imagination.
Due to its potential and high-tech innovations, AI can provide a wide range of benefits across the social, economic and environmental spectrum. But, at the same time, and because of its rapid growth and the increase in its applications and capabilities, AI carries several potential risks, such as conflicts over privacy, inequality, opacity in decision-making, fairness and bias, or security.
Aware of this, and in line with its concern to properly regulate the development and use of AI, the European Commission has promoted several initiatives to establish the principles of safe and trustworthy AI. In 2019, the High-Level Expert Group on AI presented Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. Two years later, on 21 April 2021, the European Commission published a regulatory framework to oversee AI, establishing harmonised rules on the subject, which was eventually called the Artificial Intelligence Act.
EU Member States have also realised that they must keep pace with advances in AI. Many of them have already adopted national strategies on the matter, while others are currently in the final drafting stage. Since a Europe-centred approach to AI is essential, the EU has launched measures to strengthen coordination mechanisms and provide analysis and studies through the creation of AI Watch, an initiative of the European Commission to monitor and facilitate the implementation of the European Strategy for AI.
The right meeting at the right time
With the aim of discussing all these crucial issues, the Singular Research Centre in Intelligent Technologies of the University of Santiago de Compostela (CiTIUS) will host next week a series of meetings with highly renowned experts, who will come together over the course of three days in an event entitled "European Week for AI Regulation". This workshop aims to raise awareness of and stimulate debate on AI regulation, and will be structured around three interactive thematic panels: "Socioeconomic impact of AI regulation", "Building trust through explainable AI that complies with European AI regulation" and "A human-centred approach to unbiased AI in line with European values and regulation".
The event is open to the public and will be held in hybrid format, with both on-site and online attendees, focusing on a multi-stakeholder approach to bring together representatives from the private sector, academia, civil society and governments.
Although there is still time to go and the road ahead will necessarily be long, the event organisers anticipate that, if the European Strategy for AI is finally approved as conceived, the resulting law will be the most restrictive AI regulation in the world: "its impact will not only affect our personal lives, but will also affect us as consumers, employees, companies and public administrations, and even research in this field," Barro says. "Its importance is such that we have a responsibility to be informed and even to be active in the debate and in generating proposals in this regard," he concludes.