Artificial intelligence is the technology that will advance the most in the coming years and that will have the most impact on our lives. Numerous research groups, many of them in Spain, work to apply this type of algorithm in areas such as health, energy or the environment. The letter signed by tycoon Elon Musk and 1,800 other experts, which calls for a six-month pause in the development of the most ambitious projects, does not solve the challenges facing science.

and society. The objective should not be to stop progress, but to make them under the highest ethical, humanistic and technical standards.

Apart from the fact that the letter has been controversial even for several of its signatories, who have withdrawn their support, artificial intelligence is already a reality that will not stop. The challenge is to establish a regulation, such as the one that the European Union has been preparing for years, which

Ensure respect for rights and prevent abuses

. Everyone, including minors, is exposed to artificial intelligence algorithms, which already operate on social networks and other everyday applications. It is obvious that limits are needed, but not at the cost of stopping progress, but at the cost of promoting it for the benefit of all.

The great inventions of the contemporary age have always aroused the same doubts and concerns, from the industrial machinery of the nineteenth century to the internet, but today no one considers a future without them. Many of these misgivings have to do with the possibility of machines replacing humans in their jobs. However, as has happened with other technologies, it is desirable that artificial intelligence becomes

A new tool at the service of professionals

in many different sectors, from medicine to the arts.

Researchers today face the important challenge of achieving reliable artificial intelligence; That is, it is not only about obtaining amazing results, but about knowing how to explain what the machine does and why.

Transparency is necessary for both ethical and technical reasons

: leaving important decisions in the hands of an opaque system, whose mechanics are secret or simply incomprehensible, can generate abuses and errors. Think of an algorithm responsible for nuclear safety, or filtering who receives medical treatment, and whose operation is not clear. Technological progress and respect for rights must go hand in hand, and this must be reflected in investments.

The European Commission has opted for artificial intelligence «

Focused on excellence and trust

', two conditions which the European Parliament will soon have to specify in new legislation. The future, whether you like it or not, will be marked by artificial intelligence. If science and technology remain faithful to the values of humanism, it will be a bright future.