In Paris, representatives from more than 100 countries, including both business leaders and politicians, gathered for a summit. The goal was to reposition France and Europe as key players in the field of artificial intelligence, ensuring that the sector does not remain exclusively dominated by the United States and China. "Europe has always played a central role in the development of AI. Many leading scientists in the field are of European origin and work either in various parts of Europe, including Switzerland, or at major companies and universities in the United States," explained Professor Andrea-Emilio Rizzoli. "Europe has, therefore, never been left out. However, investments have indeed been directed mainly towards the USA. Conversely, China has received a strong boost from the government, while the same developments have not been seen in Europe".
French President Emmanuel Macron created a nice video clip to launch and promote the Summit using AI. In addition to showing the most entertaining and useful potential of AI, the French President also mentioned the risk associated with the possibility of creating false images. "This raises concerns about information manipulation, which is one of the issues discussed during the summit: understanding how to regulate the abuse of AI, which is currently occurring and likely to increase," explained Professor Rizzoli.
Is the possibility of losing control over AI a potential risk? "It is possible, but we need to place the systems in situations where they can create these dangers. Currently, those conditions do not exist. However, uncontrolled development and careless use of these systems could open the door to risks, which is important to highlight. A draft of the Summit conclusions has been released, and one of the criticisms is that there is insufficient emphasis on these risks," said the USI professor.
What role can a summit like the one in France play in introducing concrete improvements to the current situation? "All these summits, including those focused on climate change, serve as political platforms but also as important opportunities for politicians and experts to meet and exchange ideas. It is likely that these exchanges will result in actions. It will be interesting to see how concrete those actions become", commented the Director of IDSIA.
Professor Rizzoli has therefore emphasised the importance for everyone to protect themselves against the risks of AI, noting that not all’approaches to this novelty guarantee adequate protection: "There are various approaches; some, like the European one, are more conservative, while others, like the American approach, are more liberal." However, it’s also good to keep in mind the advantages that AI can bring to our lives, as the Director of IDSIA emphasises: "I see the positive side of AI, because I see everything that my colleagues and research institutes around the world are doing. The medical sector, in particular, holds immense potential. For instance, this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to researchers at DeepMind for developing software that solves protein folding. This advancement opens up possibilities for creating personalised medicines. Another area in which AI can greatly help is the optimisation of logistical processes."
Professor Rizzoli concluded his remarks by emphasising the importance of proper education in the use of IT tools: "It is essential for individuals to learn how to use the tools available to them with a critical perspective. This topic is particularly important to us at the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence, as well as to USI and SUPSI in general. This is why we are actively participating in a large European consortium that studies the impact of AI on education. Additionally, we collaborate with the Canton on the implementation of AI in primary and secondary schools."