Brussels (AFP)

Big brother in Chinese or simple means of payment, facial recognition divides and Brussels will launch on Wednesday a big debate on artificial intelligence, determined to prevent slippage.

To regulate a growing sector largely dominated by the United States and China, the European Commission will present a "white paper" with avenues for action.

After consulting all stakeholders - businesses, unions, civil society, the governments of the 27 member states - she hopes to make legislative proposals by the end of the year.

Among the sensitive subjects, mass facial recognition. "What I saw in Hong Kong really frightened me," admitted vice-president of the European Commission in charge of digital technology, Margrethe Vestager, to journalists a few days ago.

During mass protests against Beijing, "people received a message on their smartphones: 'We know you are there, maybe you should go home'. It is not really support for the freedom to meet or to speak out, "she lamented.

But on the other hand, facial recognition is already widely used in a whole bunch of areas: to unlock your smartphone or quickly pass checks at airports.

Suddenly, Ms. Vestager is careful not to call for a ban that would require the support of member states, and recommends a broad reflection.

The former Danish finance minister, who is (in addition to digital) guardian of competition in the EU, insisted that care should be taken that any future regulation does not only benefit large companies in the to the detriment of SMEs.

"We are going to have to find ways so that small, ambitious firms that want to work in these fields can actually do so," she said.

- The fuel of data -

The large American or Chinese technology companies such as Facebook or Tencent are above all known to the general public who use them daily.

The ambition for the Union is not to have a European Facebook - an already lost battle - but rather to be a leader in artificial intelligence for businesses.

"If you want to have a say in things you consider risky, then you should be able to do it yourself," she said.

"This is where we have assets (...) because we are not at all late at the moment," said the Commissioner. With its large companies present in all sectors, Europe has a huge database.

And, as his colleague, Frenchman Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Industry, says over and over, the data are "the fuel of artificial intelligence". Because it is thanks to them that algorithms are trained, that they learn and determine an action.

Another advantage is that the EU is attached to certain ethical values ​​as it has shown with the RGDP. Launched on May 25, 2018, the "General Data Protection Regulations" provides enhanced rights for Internet users and requires any business, whether online or not, to request "express and positive consent" to use personal data collected or processed in the EU.

Among the avenues that the Commission intends to present on Wednesday is a voluntary labeling system for companies that respect EU rules and values ​​in artificial intelligence.

"Green Pact" requires, it will also propose an initiative to make data centers more energy efficient and make them carbon neutral by 2030.

© 2020 AFP