In February 2020, the European Commission released the "Whitepaper on Artificial Intelligence - A European approach to excellence and trust". appliedAI and our partners have come together to publish a position paper outlining our response to this whitepaper. The European Commission's whitepaper on AI rightly emphasizes the need for Europe to take a global leadership role in the field of AI.
However, while the Commission is pushing for a values- and principles-based approach, Europe still needs to fully earn its "voice" in the global arena. In order to have a real say in the global development of AI, Europe must have significant influence in both the development and application of AI. Otherwise, European companies risk losing their competitiveness, even if they espouse theoretical principles.
The Commission's white paper highlights two ecosystems that need to be developed for Europe to take a global leadership role in AI, namely an ecosystem of excellence and an ecosystem of trust.
The appliedAI initiative and its partners welcome the Commission's ambition in this regard and the consolidated approach that emphasizes the importance of a digital single market, as well as the willingness to invest significantly in AI. Nevertheless, we encourage the Commission to pursue a chance-oriented or balanced perspective in the ecosystem of trust. Above all, the rapid development of AI (as highlighted in the first sentence of the White Paper) must continue to be reflected in all measures.
In the position paper, we present several proposals and additional measures to achieve the goal of the paper.
Authors of the whitepaper
- Dr. Andreas Liebl, Managing Director at appliedAI Initiative
- Experts from Dell, Intel, Allianz, BMW Group, EnBW, Infineon, MunichRE, and Telekom