Ethical guidelines and legislative proposals at
European level are urgently needed to ensure that
the major socio-economic transformations triggered
by artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to a
better quality of life for European citizens, the
European Committee of the Regions (CoR) states in
an
opinion
drafted by Jan Trei (EE/EPP), Mayor of Viimsi Rural
Municipality.
In a
recent communication
the European Commission sets out a European initiative
on AI, aiming to boost the EU's technological and
industrial capacity and AI uptake across the economy
and to prepare for socio-economic changes it is
bringing. However, EU's cities and regions regret that
the proposed measures are not enough binding and
ambitious and do not cover the public sector at local
and regional level.
Rapporteur Jan Trei points out that,
"by developing and automating local services, be it
self-driving public transport or smart solutions in
social welfare and health care, cities and regions
participate in the development of local AI ecosystems.
This includes applying artificial intelligence to
e-government and to different e-services in education".
Trei's opinion, which was adopted at the CoR plenary
session this week, stresses that the EU’s various
funding instruments, such as the
European Structural and Investment Funds
,
Horizon Europe
,
Digital Europe
and
Erasmus
, must be better dovetailed to advance artificial
intelligence, and calls for a clear vision to this
effect. It also underlines the importance of
establishing digital innovation hubs in all EU regions
and highlights that bolstering interregional
cooperation through smart specialisation strategies
would pave the way for artificial intelligence in both
public and private sectors through demand-led
innovation and collective solutions.
While recognising the huge added value AI can create
through new goods, services and innovations, the CoR
considers it crucial to guarantee privacy and the
rights of the individual. The opinion also underlines
that local and regional authorities must be given
retraining opportunities and financial resources so
that retraining can be organised in relation to those
jobs that will be transformed or cease to exist because
of artificial intelligence.
Contact:
Lauri Ouvinen
Tel. +32 22822063
lauri.ouvinen@cor.europa.eu