This article is part of 20in20, a series of 20 blog posts in 20 days to kick off the blogging year 2020. This is 20in20:12.
The European Commission has just published a White Paper outlining their AI strategy.
Politico has what looks like a solid summary, but I’m still slowly working my way through the documents, so I can’t vouch for it. If you understand German, Netzpolitik has a good one, too.
You can find the overview documents and — just as importantly, if not more so — the so-called consultation here. This is where you can give input and feedback. Please do so!
So far, this White Paper is just a basis for discussion. The real lobbying starts now that it’s published. So any counterweight to industry lobbying is probably healthy. (In fact, in a report out in a few days, we argue that a strong civil society involvement in the AI space is key to a desirable future for AI in Europe; check back on this blog for updates on that paper later this week.)
Since EU surveys are notoriously not the least bit appealing at all, not enough people and organizations give their input here — and hence they yield the floor to those others who might not have their best intentions, or simply have more time.
This consultation here is pretty straightforward, though, and you can reply in a mix of multiple choice, free text input, and/or upload a PDF with your organization’s positions. So really, please take the time.
You’ll need a Europa account to do so, and if you don’t have one, set one up, it’ll come in handy in other places, too. (For example, if you ever apply for EU grants.)
Please note that the consultation survey does, for whatever reason, not pop up when you click on the navigation where it says “Consultations” but when you click “Read full text” on the left:
It’s confusing as hell, so here’s a screenshot to highlight what’s going on. I don’t know what CMS the European Commission uses but it seems like it produces some interesting artifacts.
I’ll try to post some thoughts on the strategy itself soon, too. But in the meantime, go have a look.