On 20 September 2018, the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) will hold the first of three workshops in Brussels. The High-Level Expert Group, which is made up of 52 experts, was set up by the Commission with the aim of developing draft AI Ethical Guidelines and making mid- and long-term policy recommendations on AI-related challenges and opportunities, particularly ahead of the Commission’s next legislative mandate (2019 - 2024).
As foreseen in its Communication on “Artificial Intelligence for Europe”, released on 25 April 2018, the Commission also established the European AI Alliance, a multi-stakeholder forum, to allow for a broader group of interested stakeholders to input into the work of the High-Level Expert Group, as well as encourage open discussion on all aspects of AI development. Interested stakeholders can register to the EU AI Alliance here.
With this in mind, the Chair of the High-Level Expert Group has requested input from interested stakeholders in the EU AI Alliance on the five topics that will be discussed during the first workshop, namely:
1. Trusted (i.e. responsible and safe) AI:
- What does it mean to ensure trusted – i.e. responsible and safe – AI? Which tools can be implemented to achieve such trust?
- What does it mean to have trusted AI which supports and enables European businesses to be successful in applying AI? How can the above tools be implemented to achieve such businesses' success?
2. Transparency and Accountability:
- What do the concepts transparency and accountability mean in an AI-context?
- How can their concrete and practical operationalization be ensured?
3. Industry and Ecosystem Uptake of AI:
- How can AI's uptake be accelerated across the entire European industry?
- Which measures can we take to ensure a level playing field in AI's uptake across all sectors, companies of all sizes, and all regions?
4. AI Infrastructure and Enablers:
- What are the most important building blocks at EU level to enable European businesses to successfully apply AI?
- How can such building blocks be ensured, and how can investments therein be stimulated?
5. Use-Cases for the Guidelines:
- Which Use-Cases are interesting/useful to explain, challenge and test the Guidelines?
The deadline for input, which is to be submitted via the platform, is 13 September, in order to allow sufficient time for the High-Level Expert Group to process the input ahead of the workshop. While it is not publically available to attend, a recording of the workshop will be uploaded on the platform.
Over the next months, the High-Level Expert Group will organise two workshops to gather further input on additional relevant topics. The Commission aims for the draft AI Ethical Guidelines to be formally presented at the first annual assembly of the AI Alliance in Q1 2019.
