Brussels (AFP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for "responsible" and human-controlled artificial intelligence during the Wednesday presentation of the EU strategy on this highly strategic and sensitive sector.
The European executive has unveiled a battle plan in the data sector to catch up with the United States and China, big winners for the moment in the digital age.
Aware of having missed the first internet revolution, which saw the emergence of American giants, such as Google and Facebook, or Chinese giants such as Tencent, the EU now wishes to play a central role in defining the rules and promotion of its own champions.
With this objective in mind, the European Commission presented its "white paper" on artificial intelligence with possible courses of action.
"Artificial intelligence is neither good nor bad in itself: it all depends on why and how it is used," insisted Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager.
"We have everything in Europe to win the battle of industrial data", at the heart of artificial intelligence, underlined the commissioner responsible for industry, the French Thierry Breton, during the press conference.
After a consultation until May 19 of 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.
© 2020 AFP