The Commissioner for Economy, Productivity, Implementation and Simplification of EU Law, Valdis Dombrovskis, has warned that the EU needs to “catch up” on artificial intelligence, after acknowledging that the bloc has not “fully reaped” the productivity gains from the Internet revolution. He stressed that “EU [...] cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes with AI”, pointing out that “AI will power everything from productivity gains to advanced weapons”.
“We need to act with ambition, speed and foresight to shape the future of AI, rather than be shaped by it. Allowing an ‘AI gap’ to emerge with our international competitors and rivals would have serious consequences for our prosperity and security, and the price of catching up would be steeper. We live in an age where dependence is a vulnerability”, said the Latvian Commissioner, speaking at the Brussels Economic Forum, on 7 May.
The Commissioner also admitted that he had asked an AI to suggest an introduction for his speech, “as an experiment”. It suggested the following words: “AI is not just the future; it is rewriting the rules of our economy today, and Europe’s next move will determine whether we lead the revolution or get left behind.” (Original version in French by Ana Pisonero Hernández)