This was a stern warning which Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission issued at The World Economic Forum's 54th Annual Meeting in Davos this month.
Her sentiment of caution fell in tandem with a reminder that “AI is also a very significant opportunity if used in a responsible way”. The principles of responsible use of AI include those "that enhance human capabilities, improve productivity and serve society”, she said.
These principles, she added, formed the bedrock of the European Commission’s development and deployment of its Artificial Intelligence Act - “the first of its kind anywhere in the world".
“When we took office four years ago, we felt the need to set clear guardrails at European level to guide the development and deployment of artificial intelligence,” Leyen said.
The nascent legislation - set to be greenlighted on 2 February, 2024 - categorises AI systems into four main groups based on their potential societal risks.
Those falling into the high-risk category will be subjected to rigorous regulations prior to entering the EU market. Once available, these systems will be under the supervision of national authorities, with the support of the AI office within the European Commission.
With AI as its backdrop, the first half of Leyen's speech focused on the condemnation of Russia's military actions in its conflict with Ukraine, and she drew attention to the economic sanctions Russia faces [wherein which] "it has decoupled its economy from modern technology and innovation".
She highlighted too, "Finally Russia's failure is also diplomatic. Finland has joined NATO, Sweden will follow suit."
This sentiment laid the groundwork for her announcement: that the European Union will be providing European startups and SMEs with access to the European Commission’s world-class supercomputers “so that they can train, develop and test their large AI models”.
“This is similar to what Microsoft is doing for ChatGPT by running it on its own supercomputers," she said.
"We will put common European data spaces at the service of startups, and we will make available massive amounts of data in all EU languages, because AI should work also for non-English speakers."
With the European Union comprising 450 million inhabitants Leyen emphasised, “This is the new frontier of competitiveness". “Europe is well positioned to become the leader of industrial AI.
"The continent has a huge competitive edge when it comes to industrial data. We can train artificial intelligence on data of unrivaled quality. We want to invest in this [because] Europe has got talent. There are nearly 200,000 software engineers in Europe with AI experience - that is a greater concentration of software engineers than in the United States and China."
Leyen said the future of the European Union’s competitiveness depends on AI adoption in its daily businesses. "I am a tech optimist and, as a medical doctor by training, I know that AI is already revolutionising healthcare. That’s good.
"AI can boost productivity at unprecedented speed. First movers will be rewarded and will unquestionably win the global race."
