Horizon 2020-Funded EPIC Project Releases Policy Recommendations for Australia-Europe Collaboration Potential to Maximise AI Benefits for Society
This week, the Horizon 2020-funded EPIC project released its fourth in a series of policy briefs providing policymakers in the European Commission (EC), as well as in the project partner countries of Australia, Singapore and New Zealand, with an update on the state-of-play of ICT cooperation as relates to the EC’s actions. This publication, entitled ‘Getting AI Right: Australian-Europe Collaboration Potential to Maximise AI Benefits for Society’, has been drafted to inform both EU and Australian policy stakeholders in the AI landscape. The topic of EU-Australia AI collaboration was the focus of a dedicated EPIC event, ‘International Dimensions of Artificial Intelligence’, which took place in Canberra earlier this year and informed the content of this brief. The brief starts off describing some of the difficulties in managing artificial intelligence and its related technologies, asking probing questions such as ‘how can governments ensure AI is designed respecting ethical principles?’, ‘how can this be done while creating an effective environment for AI-based businesses to flourish?’ and ‘how do we deal with the looming job displacement and labour market impacts that will land in the not so distant future?’. It then proceeds to an overview of international AI strategies and policies and looks to more specific initiatives established in Australia and the EU, in particular in the area of research. Finally, it provides an up to date overview of the status of AI strategies as well as a list of recommended collaboration areas for the two regions. The full document is publicly available and can be accessed at https://bit.ly/2OdeVcJ Authors and contributors include Katherine Daniel, Research Lead at the Australian National University’s (ANU) College of Engineering and Computer Science’s 3A Institute and an Associate Professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society; Kobi Leins, a Research Fellow at ANU’s 3A Institute currently working on creating a new applied science in the management of data, artificial intelligence, and cyber-physical systems; Amy McLellan, also a Research Fellow at the 3A Institute, and a human scientist and social researcher working at the intersections of technology and humanity; and EPIC coordinator and Austria-based technology consultant Erich Prem. While the policy briefs are prepared as part of the EPIC project, the views expressed therein are solely those of the authors and not of the EC or its services. “When it comes to the future of AI technologies, Australia and the EU not only share many of the challenges, but also many underlying ethical values. For this reason, there exists excellent collaboration potential between the two regions to help ensure the ethical development, regulation and application of AI technologies on a global level,” said Bruce Wilson, Director of the European Union Centre at RMIT University. In addition to providing future oriented recommendations for policymakers, the EPIC policy brief series will provide insights into the main challenges and previous successes in the selected topic areas based on input from the EPIC consortium members, interviews with researchers and previous results and findings. Target audiences include research policy advisers and research counsellors in Brussels, R&D policymakers in the corresponding ministries and departments in the partner countries, top researchers and research managers from leading research organizations, and ICT industry associations. EPIC is aimed at improving cooperation in the area of ICT between Europe and the three partner countries Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (ICT) under Grant Agreement No. 687794. To learn more about the project, visit www.epicproject.eu. Currently, EPIC is the only EU support action targeting ICT research cooperation with Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence, Research Cooperation, Australia, Ethics, AI technologies
