[co-author: Ilaria Boschi]
As we saw in our last
bite, artificial intelligence has been (and is expected to remain) a hot topic this year. This article aims to outline the most relevant provisions envisioned by the EU institutions after the milestone of the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, adopted by the European Commission in February 2020 (see our previous
bite on this). As we will argue below, such provisions, including especially the so-called “
October Framework on AI” of October 20, 2020, lay the foundations for a broader, harmonized, horizontal regulatory framework on AI, which is expected to be published soon.
So, while we are all waiting for the new draft EU regulation on AI, here is a list of references, our “
Government Blockchain Association (GBA) Announces New Ai Community for Blockchain
Washington, D.C., Feb 08, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - In response to the Executive Order titled Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government, the Government Blockchain Association, GBA, is pleased to announce that we are launching the AI for Government Community, led by Mr. Oki Mek, the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, (CAIO), for US Health and Human Services, (HHS).
Mr. Mek, along with Jose Arrieta, Former CIO at HHS, developed Accelerate, the first blockchain-based program in the Federal government to get an authority-to-operate. This program was purported to save HHS $30 million over five years, according to MeriTalk, 2/11/2020. Mr. Mek s leadership will be instrumental in supporting government s use of Artificial intelligence (AI) for economic growth and improving the quality of life for their citizens.
Calls for international, and particularly transatlantic, cooperation are growing.
In Europe, interest in strengthening “ethical” AI policy is particularly strong – including as a way of making Europe more attractive than other jurisdictions around the world.
Close cooperation between Europe and the US is not a given: Europe sees the US as its main competitor in AI; the US wants to join forces against China on AI, but European interest in such a front is weak.
The non-combat military realm may be a good area for transatlantic AI cooperation.
Introduction
A glance at the history of artificial intelligence (AI) shows that the field periodically goes through phases of development racing ahead and slowing down – often dubbed “AI springs” and “AI winters”. The world is currently several years into an AI spring, dominated by important advances in machine-learning technologies. In Europe, policymakers’ efforts to grapple with the rapid pace of technological development
By Letters to the Editor Send us your views on the week s news
Outgoing president Donald Trump The President has signed another Executive Order (Executive Order 13967 of December 18, 2020, Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture) which basically says that all new Federal buildings must be beautiful which seems to suggest that they will be built in a Greek or Roman style and there will be a lot of columns. This is probably, but might not be, the most stupid executive order ever signed. Yes, Roman building as pretty but the best known, the Coliseum is starting to lose its glamour and a lot of bricks.
The West, China, and AI surveillance GeoTech Cues by Kaan Sahin (Guest Author)
Risks and opportunities
It is the year 2027: China has been continually perfecting its full-fledged nationwide surveillance architecture in form of smart and secure cities as well as the social credit system. The results cannot be denied: thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), surveillance systems throughout the streets plaster the faces of jaywalkers on billboards and drivers of speeding cars are immediately informed that they are fined, leading to a new record low of traffic accidents.
At the same time, however, the government has employed AI surveillance systems as big-brother-type instruments of repression. For instance, AI tools have been honed to the degree that they can automatically grade be it online or offline the degree of comments critical of government and discipline their citizens according to