Europe fears losing touch with artificial intelligence
Published: Thursday, Jan 18th 2024, 09:20
Back to Live Feed
If you received a dollar every time the term artificial intelligence was mentioned at the World Economic Forum, you would be a rich person. AI is omnipresent in Davos. But especially in this super election year, the assessment is very different.
Last year, ChatGPT was the latest hype at the World Economic Forum - and artificial intelligence (AI) was still very abstract for many. Since then, the tech industry has been in a gold-rush mood. The applications seem limitless: from AI-generated music to early detection of breast cancer, prediction of extreme weather to optimization of supply chains and analysis of business reports.
The almost uncontrollable possibilities are causing many a politician to worry. The keyword here is fake news, especially in the super election year of 2024: European companies must be careful not to lose touch.
Google, Microsoft and the Facebook group Meta have all made rapid progress in the field of artificial intelligence. Fortunately, the time for panic reactions is also over, says Meta's top manager Nick Clegg (President Global Affairs). "I feel like we've wasted a lot of energy over the last year or two speculating about whether the world is going to end next Tuesday and whether robots with glowing red eyes are going to take over." Yet just a few weeks ago, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, categorized AI as a threat to human dignity.
Seize opportunities - and minimize risks
One thing is certain: AI has the potential to change the world. Global rules that guarantee the responsible use of the technology are still lacking. These are also unrealistic in the near future, says Jürgen Müller, Chief Technology Officer of the German software company SAP. International ideas on transparency and privacy are too different: while China relies on facial recognition to monitor its population, the EU wants to restrict precisely that.
A few weeks ago, Brussels agreed on rules for the use of artificial intelligence. Certain applications are to be banned, such as biometric systems that use sexual orientation or religious beliefs. The untargeted reading of images from the internet or surveillance footage should also not be permitted.
Some still consider the EU requirements to be too lax, while others warn that Europe is at risk of falling behind technologically. Meta is also skeptical: "This is still very much a work in progress," says Clegg. For example, he would like to see requirements for labeling images created with AI - a kind of mandatory watermark that Instagram and Facebook could use to identify manipulated photos.
Danger in a super election year
In its risk survey, the World Economic Forum classified AI as one of the greatest dangers of the coming years. This mainly concerns misinformation in the super election year with polls in the USA, the UK and India. With artificial intelligence, fake material could reach huge numbers of voters in no time at all, warns Carolina Klint from the consultancy firm Marsh McLennan.
The German government has already had a taste of this: In November, a manipulated video of Olaf Scholz was circulated. The Chancellor was told that the government was seeking to ban the AfD.
Meta manager Clegg considers many warnings to be exaggerated. However, the Group's leading AI scientist, Yann LeCun, also admits: "Recognizing dangerous disinformation is very difficult. We don't have the ideal technology for this." Despite all the doom and gloom, it is important to remember that if AI is used for cyberattacks, the same technology could be used to detect such attacks and eliminate vulnerabilities.
What AI can do - and what it can't (yet) do
Artificial intelligence can do more than just write texts and gather information. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reports on a material designed with the help of software that could be used to reduce the lithium content in batteries. Google has developed an AI to identify genetic mutations. SAP uses it to coordinate supply chains and help record receipts. According to LeCun, Meta now recognizes 95% of all hate posts on Facebook and Instagram - in all languages.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger expects AI to be used on all platforms and devices in the future. By 2028, 80 percent of all computers could be equipped with chips that enable the use of artificial intelligence.
However, scientist LeCun also clearly emphasizes what AI applications are not yet capable of: "Contrary to what some claim, we do not yet have a system that would achieve human intelligence." AI cannot yet remember, think, plan or understand the world. Even larger amounts of data and computers cannot change this; what is needed are as yet unknown scientific breakthroughs. "And that won't happen quickly, it will take years, if not decades."
AI is still a long way from human intelligence - and this must also be taken into account when it comes to regulation. "Demanding regulation now out of fear of superhuman intelligence is like demanding the regulation of turbo jets in 1925," argues LeCun. "The turbojet had not yet been invented in 1925."
Where are the big players based?
Google, Microsoft, Meta, Intel and, of course, ChatGPT - only the Europeans are hardly represented on the AI panels at the World Economic Forum. "The main developments take place in the USA and China, and then nothing happens for a long time," admits SAP board member Müller. Germany is often excellent when it comes to basic research - but less so when it comes to the commercialization of technology.
According to a study by management consultants McKinsey quoted in Handelsblatt, there are 35 major AI companies in the USA, while the researchers found only 3 in Europe. The disparity is also significant in terms of investment: Europe invested 1.7 billion dollars in the industry of the future last year, while the USA invested 23 billion.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic