Technology: The EU and the USA want to cooperate more closely on AI

Technology
The EU and the USA want to cooperate more closely on AI

Since the launch of the chatbot ChatGPT last November, AI has been on everyone’s lips. photo

© Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa/Illustration

How will artificial intelligence continue to develop? Experts recently issued a dramatic-sounding warning. Brussels and Washington want to counter risks together.

The EU and the USA want to work more closely together to take advantage of the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence (AI) and at the same time contain its risks.

Among other things, a group of experts is to be set up to monitor and measure existing and new AI risks, according to a joint statement published on Wednesday at the EU and US Trade and Technology Council. The common AI terms are to be expanded, progress in the further development of AI standards and tools for risk management to be continued and a catalog of existing and emerging risks to be developed, it said.

EU Commission Vice Margrethe Vestager described the project as a “big step in a race that we cannot afford to lose”. Accountability can’t wait, she wrote on Twitter: “We will work with our key partners and the AI ​​community on security measures to make AI responsible, safe and trustworthy.”

In addition, the United States and the EU want to further advance their cooperation in AI research in certain areas such as extreme weather and climate forecasts, emergency management or the optimization of agriculture and energy networks.

“We are committed to making the most of the potential of emerging technologies while limiting the challenges they pose to universal human rights and shared democratic values,” the statement said.

Dramatic-sounding warning from AI experts

The transatlantic initiative stands in the context of dramatic-sounding warnings: in a statement published on Tuesday, a number of leading AI experts called for the risks to be taken seriously. The head of ChatGPT inventor OpenAI, Sam Altman, also signed the short statement. The chatbot ChatGPT, which can formulate sentences at human level, has triggered a new hype about artificial intelligence in recent months. The nonprofit organization, on whose website the text appeared, cites its use in warfare as a possible danger of artificial intelligence.

The EU and the United States also want to cooperate more closely with other technologies such as the future 6G mobile communications standard or online platforms.

At the meeting in Luleå, Sweden, EU and US leaders also agreed on a common, international standard for megawatt charging systems for charging electric heavy-duty vehicles. According to the EU Commission, this will reduce production and deployment costs and thus facilitate transatlantic trade and investment.

With increasing pressure on the global environment, security and economy, EU-US cooperation is more important than ever, said Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis. “By forging a green and digital transatlantic marketplace, we can drive prosperity and job creation on both sides of the Atlantic while working together on improved global standards and rules.”

Bilateral trade between the EU and the US reached an all-time high of 1.55 trillion euros in 2022, of which more than 100 billion euros in digital trade. The European-American Trade and Technology Council has been meeting since 2021 to coordinate joint action on important global trade, economic and technology issues. The fifth meeting is scheduled to take place in the United States at the end of the year.

dpa

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