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CAIDP – AI Committee of European Parliament Begins Work

In June the European Parliament established a Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence to study the impact of AI and to propose a roadmap for the EU. According to the decision of Parliament, the Committee should pursue a “holistic approach providing a common, long-term position that highlights the EU’s key values and objectives.”

Parliament asked the AI Committee to prepare a report on common EU objectives, and to build on earlier reports, such as Shaping Europe’s Digital Future, a European Strategy for Data, the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, and Safety and Liability Implications of AI. The Parliament called for a  “digital transition that is human-centric and consistent with the Charter of Fundamental Rights.” The new Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA) will be composed of 33 members, and will have an initial duration of 12 months from the date of its first meeting.

The AIDA held its first meeting on September 23. The Committee members elected Dragoș Tudorache (Renew, RO) as Chair, by acclamation. The bureau will be composed of: First Vice-Chair: Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (S&D, FI), Second Vice-Chair: Geoffroy Didier (EPP, FR), Third Vice-Chair: Edina Tóth (EPP, HU), and Fourth Vice-Chair: Birgit Sippel (S&D, DE)

Committee chair Dragoș Tudorach said after the meeting, “The digital transformation, besides the tremendous benefits it can bring to our citizens, is also an opportunity to strengthen the European Union and to build up our strategic resilience in the face of adversity. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of this transformation.”

The AIDA Committee will hold its first working meeting during the week of October 26-30.

 

Marc Rotenberg, Director

Center for AI and Digital Policy at Michael Dukakis Institute

The Center for AI and Digital Policy, founded in 2020, advises governments on technology policy

Governor Michael Dukakis and President Vaira Vike-Freiberga invite thinkers, leaders, and innovators to sign the Social Contract for the AI Age

Dear Friends,

 

Last week the Boston Global Forum (BGF) and the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid (WLA-CdM) organized a policy lab on Translatlantic Approaches to Digital Governance: Social Contract for the AI Age. The event featured several panels on the growing importance of AI and digital policy. It is clear that the process of “digitalization” is accelerating. Countries are now confronting new challenges, as well as new opportunities.

Advances in AI raise policy issues that must be assessed. We must now focus through dialogue, tolerance, learning and understanding on key principles and practices for an agreement among members of society for shared social benefit. And we believe it is vitally important that democratic leaders make clear our support for fundamental rights and the rule of law in this Age of AI. We want to ensure that AI supports sustainable development, inclusion, fairness and accountability.

Our next step is to build public support for the Social Contract for the Age of AI. This global declaration sets out a human-centric approach for the governance of AI.  The Social Contract is the outcome of a collaboration over the last several years between the BGF and the CdM/WLA.

We are asking you to join us, as signatories, in support of this initiative. Over the next several months, we will reach out to innovators, thinkers, advocates, and other world leaders.  Our aim is to build support for the Social Contract and to educate the public about the many issues we will confront in the years ahead. We are also developing monitoring mechanisms so that we can begin to assess national progress toward the goals that we have set out.

You will find more information about the Social Contract for the Age of AI here. If you would like to endorse, please contact Tuan Nguyen, director of the Michael Dukakis Institute.

Thank you for your continued interest in this work.

 

Sincerely,

Governor Michael Dukakis, Boston Global Forum, and

President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Latvia and World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid

 

To harness the AI age, governments must keep these 7 factors in mind

Economic performance, cooperation and productivity are undergoing cataclysmic disruptions. Alongside these changes, data and AI are poised to transform economies and improve societies. To leverage these positive outcomes, governments must move well beyond their current activities and recognize themselves as stewards of their nation’s – and the world’s – AI competitiveness.

Investments and improvements in artificial intelligence need not be an arms race. AI is a general-purpose technology with the potential to transform all sectors and forms of economic activity. Increasing one country’s competitiveness can benefit allies, trading partners and the global order.

Responsible AI can bolster that competitiveness while reflecting advanced thinking about economic resilience and wellbeing of populations. Nonetheless, falling behind is dangerous. Governments should weight AI and data competitiveness as heavily as other economic and social improvements and embrace a long-term, strategic approach.

To increase AI and data competitiveness, governments should prioritize these 7 factors in their integrated strategies:

  1. Prioritize investments in research;
  2. Build AI and data literacy throughout the population;
  3. Leverage government’s role as a purchaser, partner and provider – while opening up government data sets;
  4. Support the application of AI across the broadest possible landscape, especially for small and medium enterprises;
  5. Practice digital diplomacy by stimulating and rewarding collaboration across borders where interests align;
  6. Aggressively prioritize and measure AI competitiveness as one element of national strategy;
  7. Keep technology impact at the forefront of decisions.

The original article can be found here.

In support of positive AI development for the society, the Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation (MDI) and Boston Global Forum (BGF) established the Artificial Intelligence World Society (AIWS.net) in 2018. In this effort, MDI and BGF invite participation and collaboration with governments, think tanks, universities, non-profits, firms, and other entities that share its commitment to the constructive and development of full-scale AI for world society.

President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Vint Cerf, Nazli Choucri, and Tuan Nguyen discuss the Social Contract for the AI Age at the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid Policy Lab

On September 17 at Session I: The AIWS Social Contract 2020 and AIWS Innovation Network: A Platform for Transatlantic Cooperation, the Lead Speaker and Facilitator was Nazli Choucri, Boston Global Forum Board Member and Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Panel discussion:

  • Esko Aho, WLA-CdM Member, Prime Minister of Finland (1991-1995)
  • Vaira Vike-Freiberga, WLA-CdM Member, President of Latvia (1999-2007)
  • Vint Cerf, Father of the Internet, Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
  • Nguyen Anh Tuan, CEO of the Boston Global Forum, “Presentation AIWS City, a practicing of The Social Contract 2020, A New Social Contract in the Age of AI”

The panel discussed the Social Contract for the AI Age and AIWS City. In this session participants are President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Vint Cerf, both World Leader in AIWS Award recipients, Professor Nazli Choucri, MIT, Board Member of the Boston Global Forum, Michael Dukakis Institute, History of AI at AIWS.net, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, CEO of the Boston Global Forum. Professor Choucri is lead speaker and moderator of this session. She talked about the Social Contract for the AI Age, and Mr. Tuan introduced new concepts found in the Social Contract for the AI Age such as Intellectual Society and Smart Democracy, as well as the model of AIWS City.

Link: https://boston.dialoguescdm.org/on-demand/#02

CAIDP Update – US Lawmakers Propose National AI Strategy

This week Representatives Robin Kelly (R-Illinois)and Will Hurd (R-Texas) introduced a Congressional Resolution calling for the creation of a US National AI Strategy. Among other points, the Resolution states “Developing and using artificial intelligence in ways that are ethical, reduce bias, promote fairness, and protect privacy is essential for fostering a positive effect on society consistent with core United States values.” The Resolution also acknowledges the OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence. The Bipartisan Policy Center has endorsed the Resolution, declaring “we must embrace AI while protecting our civil liberties, modernizing our workforce and education programs, and investing more in R&D.”

In 2018 Representatives Kelly and Hurd published ‘‘Rise of the Machines: Artificial Intelligence and its Growing Impact on U.S. Policy’’ following several hearings on artificial intelligence.  They concluded that ‘‘the United States cannot maintain its global leadership in artificial intelligence absent political leadership from Congress and the Executive Branch.’’

The US AI National AI Resolution, which does not yet have legal force, emphasizes global leadership, a prepared workforce, national security, research and development, and Ethics, reduced bias, fairness, and privacy. The Resolution would not establish any new agency to regulate AI nor does it make clear which new obligations would exist for those who deploy AI systems. But the Resolution does provide a detailed outline of a US national AI strategy. The initiative is also significant because much of the US AI policy to date has been set by the White House, both the Obama and the Trump administrations. The AI Resolution signals an effort by Congress to become more active in the AI policy realm.

Also this week, members of the US National Security Commission on AI recommended new workforce initiatives, including the creation of a US Digital Services Academy, in testimony to the US Congress.

 

Marc Rotenberg, Director

Center for AI and Digital Policy at Michael Dukakis Institute

 

The Center for AI and Digital Policy, founded in 2020, advises governments on technology policy

AI ethics groups are repeating one of society’s classic mistakes

International organizations and corporations are racing to develop global guidelines for the ethical use of artificial intelligence. Declarations, manifestos, and recommendations are flooding the internet. But these efforts will be futile if they fail to account for the cultural and regional contexts in which AI operates.

AI systems have repeatedly been shown to cause problems that disproportionately affect marginalized groups while benefiting a privileged few. The global AI ethics efforts under way today—of which there are dozens—aim to help everyone benefit from this technology, and to prevent it from causing harm. Generally speaking, they do this by creating guidelines and principles for developers, funders, and regulators to follow. They might, for example, recommend routine internal audits or require protections for users’ personally identifiable information.

We believe these groups are well-intentioned and are doing worthwhile work. The AI community should, indeed, agree on a set of international definitions and concepts for ethical AI. But without more geographic representation, they’ll produce a global vision for AI ethics that reflects the perspectives of people in only a few regions of the world, particularly North America and northwestern Europe.

This work is not easy or straightforward. “Fairness,” “privacy,” and “bias” mean different things (pdf) in different places. People also have disparate expectations of these concepts depending on their own political, social, and economic realities. The challenges and risks posed by AI also differ depending on one’s locale.

If organizations working on global AI ethics fail to acknowledge this, they risk developing standards that are, at best, meaningless and ineffective across all the world’s regions. At worst, these flawed standards will lead to more AI systems and tools that perpetuate existing biases and are insensitive to local cultures.

The original article can be found here.

To support for AI technology and development for social impact, Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation (MDI) and Artificial Intelligence World Society (AIWS.net) has developed AIWS Ethics and Practice Index to measure the ethical values and help people achieve well-being and happiness, as well as solve important issues, such as SDGs. Regarding to AI Ethics, AI World Society (AIWS.net) initiated and promoted to design AIWS Ethics framework within four components including transparency, regulation, promotion and implementation for constructive use of AI. In this effort, Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation (MDI) invites participation and collaboration with think tanks, universities, non-profits, firms, and other entities that share its commitment to the constructive and development of full-scale AI for world society.

The Social Contract for the AI Age, completed and officially launched on 09/09/2020

This is the first social contract in the digital, Internet and AI era, a platform for connection among governments, stakeholders, and private and public institutions, and for balancing centers of power, initiated by the Boston Global Forum, will pay particular attention to insights presented by government representatives, academic institutions, think tanks, tech companies and civil society.

The Social Contract for the AI Age was completed and launched on September 9, 2020.

 

The co-authors of the Social Contract for the AI Age are:

Governor Michael Dukakis, Boston Global Forum and

President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Latvia and World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid

Vint Cerf, Father of Internet, Google, Nazli Choucri, MIT,

Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija, Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Tuan Anh Nguyen, Boston Global Forum, Thomas Patterson, Harvard University,

Alex Pentland, MIT, Marc Rotenberg, CAIDP, David Silbersweig, Harvard University

 

Please view and download the Social Contract for the AI Age either here or here.

CAIDP Update – EU Justice Commissioner Speaks on Schrems II, AI

EU Commissioner Justice Didier Reynders spoke this week at the Brookings Institutions in Washington DC on “Advancing the transatlantic dialogue in the aftermath of Schrems II.” The discussion followed a recent judgement from the Court of Justice of the European Union that rejected the legal basis for the transfer of the personal data from the European Union to the United States. Policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic are now exploring legal strategies to maintain transatlantic data flows. But primary responsibility will fall to the EU Justice Commissioner to ensure that future transfers of personal data comply with the ruling of the Court of Justice. Reynders has remarked that there is “no quick fix.”

Citing recent developments in the United States and around the globe, Commissioner Reynders said at Brookings, “It is increasingly clear that comprehensive privacy rules are key to the response to the global challenges we face today.” Commissioner Reynders stated, “it is clear that this increasing convergence in privacy laws around the world offers new opportunities to facilitate data flows.” He also said, “we should work together including with all like-minded allies on initiatives that promote this type of convergence” and suggested that Data Free Flow with Trust, an initiative of the Japanese government noted in a recent CAIDP Update, as a basis for future cooperation.

Commissioner Reynder also discussed artificial intelligence. “The EU has to seize the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence,” he said. “But of course,” he continued, “AI should also respect citizens fundamental rights to privacy and data protection.” Reynder highlighted the European Commission White Paper on AI, also noted in a recent CAIDP Update, on a human-centric approach that promotes trust and excellence. Reynder endorsed the efforts of private firms to establish human rights-based rules and to limit the use of facial recognition. He proposed an EU-US collaboration on artificial intelligence. “An EU-US framework will need to promote respect for fundamental rights, including human dignity, equality, non-discrimination, and protection of privacy and personal data.” And Reynders spoke to the current debate about bias in AI. “It is also a common goal to ensure that discriminations that happen in the offline world are not replicated and amplified by the use of AI.”

Access Now, a leading civil society organization, has raised concerns about the European Commission’s AI initiative, stating that the “EU should acknowledge that the public procurement of AI systems offers an opportunity to enforce high standards on AI systems and thereby contribute to its goal of creating an ecosystem of trust and excellence. Any use of AI systems in the public sector should be subject to especially high standards of transparency and every measure should be taken to ensure that fundamental rights are protected.”

On one point there is clear agreement between the EU Justice Commissioner and the Austrian privacy advocate Max Schrems, who has twice prevailed at the Court of Justice – there should be no “Schrems III” judgement. “I would like to retire,” Max has said with a smile.

 

Marc Rotenberg, Director

Center for AI and Digital Policy at Michael Dukakis Institute

 

The Center for AI and Digital Policy, founded in 2020, advises governments on technology policy

The Social Contract for the AI Age will be officially announced at World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid Conference

On 16, 17 and 18 of September 2020, Democratic former Heads of State and Government, Members of Club de Madrid, current Government representatives, experts and renowned scholars will analyse global challenges and offer actionable policy solutions at a transatlantic and multi-stakeholder Policy Lab on the Social Contract for the AI Age, a new social contract on digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

This forthcoming Policy Lab will convene over 10 former democratic Heads of State and Government (all Members of Club de Madrid), Manuel Muñiz, Secretary of State for Global Spain, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, as well as world class experts like computer scientist and father of the Internet, Vint Cerf, MIT Professor Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland, Governor Michael Dukakis, Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States (1988), professors of Harvard, MIT, and top universities. Together, participants will lend their experience-based critical judgement to pioneering discussions which seek, among other priorities, to identify ways of engaging different sectors of society in grounding policymaking while protecting the democratic mandate.

All in all, the rapid rollout of digital technologies and AI beyond the control of states poses a global challenge never seen before, which is why we should not set global, regional and national standards of digital governance without the participation of all societal actors. In this sense, debates from this Policy Lab on “The Social Contract for the AI Age”, the first social contract in the digital, Internet and AI era, a platform for connection among governments, stakeholders, and private and public institutions, and for balancing centers of power, initiated by the Boston Global Forum, will pay particular attention to insights presented by government representatives, academic institutions, think tanks, tech companies and civil society.

The dialogue will also serve as a platform to establish a Transatlantic Alliance for Digital Governance and the AIWS City, an all-digital virtual city based on the standards and norms of “the Social Contract for the AI Age”, “People Centered Economy”, “Trustworthy Economy” and “Intellectual Society”. Lastly, the policy discussion aims to discuss the creation of an initiative to monitor governments as well as companies in using AI and to generate an AI Ethics Index at all levels.

Further information can be found here.