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Artificial Intelligence: first quantitative study of its kind finds uptake by businesses across Europe is on the rise

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The European Commission has published the first quantitative overview on the uptake of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies among European enterprises. This study will help monitor the adoption of AI in Member States and further assess the challenges faced by enterprises, for their internal organisation and externally.

AI uptake across European enterprises

The robust survey found that four in ten (42%) enterprises have adopted at least one AI technology, with a quarter of them having already adopted at least two. Almost twice the proportion of large enterprises (39%) use two or more AI technologies compared to micro (21%) and small enterprises (22%). A total of 18% have plans to adopt AI in the next two years, while 40% of the enterprises participating do not use AI, nor do they plan to in the future. Overall awareness of AI amongst companies is however high across the EU, standing at 78%.

Challenges to AI technology adoption across Europe

The study also found three key internal barriers that enterprises are facing when adopting AI technologies: 57% experienced difficulties in hiring new staff with the right skills, while just over half (52%) said the cost of adopting AI technology was a barrier for their enterprise. The cost of adapting operational processes was also one of the three key issues (49%). Reducing uncertainty can be beneficial, as enterprises find liability for potential damages (33%), data standardisation (33%) and regulatory obstacles (29%) to be major external challenges to AI adoption.

Next steps

The “European enterprise survey on the use of technologies based on artificial intelligence”, will be used to monitor the adoption of AI across Member States and to assess the obstacles and barriers in the use of AI. In addition, it will present an overview of AI-related skills in the workforce. It will also help the Commission to shape future policy initiatives in the field of AI.

Background

The study was carried out for the European Commission by the market research company Ipsos together with iCite. A robust survey instrument was designed and fielded in EU Member States, as well as Norway, Iceland and the UK. A total of 9640 enterprises took part between January and March 2020. The five key performance indicators measured by the survey were AI awareness, adoption, sourcing, external and internal obstacles to adoption. The study used Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing to obtain representative country estimates.

Artificial intelligence has become an area of strategic importance and a key driver of economic development. It can bring solutions to many societal challenges from treating diseases to minimising the environmental impact of farming. However, socio-economic, legal and ethical impacts have to be carefully addressed.

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/

Towards a vibrant European network of AI excellence

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The first European Network of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Excellence Centres held a kick-off meeting last week to set the tone for future collaboration, under the motto of “the whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

New network of AI excellence centres to drive up collaboration in research across Europe

Five projects have been selected to form the network, following a call launched in July 2019 to bring together world-class researchers and establish a common approach, vision and identity for the European AI ecosystem.

What will the European Network of AI Excellence Centres do?

  • Support and make the most of the AI talent and excellence already available in Europe;
  • Foster exchange of knowledge and expertise, and attract and maintain these talents;
  • Further develop collaboration between the network and industry;
  • Foster diversity and inclusion;
  • Develop a unifying visual identity.

The 5 projects making up the Network

4 Research and Innovation Actions to mobilise the best researchers on key AI topics.

  • AI4Media: focuses on advancing AI to serve media, to make sure that the European values of ethical and trustworthy AI are embedded in future AI deployments, and to reimagine AI as a beneficial technology in the service of society and media.
  • ELISE:  invites all ways of reasoning, considering all types of data applicable for almost all sectors of science and industry, while being aware of data safety and security, and striving for explainable and trustworthy outcomes.
  • HumanE-AI-Net: supports technologies for human-level interaction, by providing new abilities to perceive and understand complex phenomena, to individually and collectively solve problems, and to empower individuals with new abilities for creativity and experience.
  • TAILOR: builds an academic-public-industrial research network to provide the scientific basis for Trustworthy AI, combining learning, optimization and reasoning to produce AI systems that incorporate safeguards for safety, transparency and respect for human agency and expectations.

1 Coordination and Support Action

  • VISION: to foster exchange between the selected projects and other relevant initiatives, ensuring synergy and overcoming fragmentation in the European AI community.

Funding

The Commission invested €50m under the current Horizon 2020 programme, after an initial investment of €20m for the creation of AI4EU, the AI-on-Demand-Platform that allows the exchange of AI tools and resources across Europe.

Next steps

The Network is the foundation of a larger future initiative through Horizon Europe, which is one cornerstone of the “ecosystem of excellence“ set out in the Commission’s White Paper on AI, and is a result of the Commission’s long-term vision to unify the European AI community and make Europe a powerhouse of AI. Priority shall be given to the development of PhD programmes, integration of AI in education programmes and not just in ICT related courses, and setting up internships.

Guidelines for military and non-military use of Artificial Intelligence

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Artificial Intelligence must be subject to human control, allowing humans to correct or disable it in case of unforeseen behaviour, say MEPs.

 

The report, adopted on Wednesday with 364 votes in favour, 274 against, 52 abstentions, calls for an EU legal framework on AI with definitions and ethical principles, including its military use. It also calls on the EU and its member states to ensure AI and related technologies are human-centred (i.e. intended for the service of humanity and the common good).

Military use and human oversight

MEPs stress that human dignity and human rights must be respected in all EU defence-related activities. AI-enabled systems must allow humans to exert meaningful control, so they can assume responsibility and accountability for their use.

The use of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) raises fundamental ethical and legal questions on human control, say MEPs, reiterating their call for an EU strategy to prohibit them as well as a ban on so-called “killer robots”. The decision to select a target and take lethal action using an autonomous weapon system must always be made by a human exercising meaningful control and judgement, in line with the principles of proportionality and necessity.

The text calls on the EU to take a leading role in creating and promoting a global framework governing the military use of AI, alongside the UN and the international community.

AI in the public sector

The increased use of AI systems in public services, especially healthcare and justice, should not replace human contact or lead to discrimination, MEPs assert. People should always be informed if they are subject to a decision based on AI and be given the option to appeal it.

When AI is used in matters of public health, (e.g. robot-assisted surgery, smart prostheses, predictive medicine), patients’ personal data must be protected and the principle of equal treatment upheld. While the use of AI technologies in the justice sector can help speed up proceedings and take more rational decisions, final court decisions must be taken by humans, be strictly verified by a person and be subject to due process.

Mass surveillance and deepfakes

MEPs also warn of threats to fundamental human rights and state sovereignty arising from the use of AI technologies in mass civil and military surveillance. They call for public authorities to be banned from using “highly intrusive social scoring applications” (for monitoring and rating citizens). The report also raises concerns over “deepfake technologies” that have the potential to “destabilise countries, spread disinformation and influence elections”. Creators should be obliged to label such material as “not original” and more research should be done into technology to counter this phenomenon.

Quote

Rapporteur Gilles Lebreton (ID, FR) said: “Faced with the multiple challenges posed by the development of AI, we need legal responses. To prepare the Commission’s legislative proposal on this subject, this report aims to put in place a framework which essentially recalls that, in any area, especially in the military field and in those managed by the state such as justice and health, AI must always remain a tool used only to assist decision-making or help when taking action. It must never replace or relieve humans of their responsibility”.

Investing in AI for manufacturing

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The European Commission welcomes proposals to exploit the potential of AI and boost the digital technologies in the manufacturing sector.

Manufacturing processes and products can benefit from advanced digital technologies and state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions. The integration of Artificial Intelligence in the various stages of a production process not only can supply the markets with better and cost effective goods but also can improve the conditions and quality of human labour.

A PwC paper identifies the potential value from exploitation of AI as being $15.7 trillion in 2030. This would be through impacts on productivity, personalisation of products, better use of time, and quality improvements. An expected 55% of GDP gains from AI would come from labour productivity improvements. A study by McKinsey gives some examples on how AI can be used in manufacturing such as predictive maintenance, cost reduction, automated testing, improved quality of products and supply chain management. Microsoft produced a report in May 2019 quoting figures that AI will add $3.7 trillion dollars to the manufacturing sector by 2035.

As digital transformation is already affecting the greatest share of European industry, the European Commission aims to support capitalising on its potential to the fullest, including the potential of AI. Two recently launched calls (ICT-38-2020 and DT-ICT-03-2020) specifically address AI in manufacturing through actions of research, innovation and experimentation:

Artificial Intelligence for manufacturing

Seizing AI opportunities is essential for Europe’s mid and long-term competitiveness. The manufacturing sector provides one of the most relevant examples. The challenge is to integrate AI technologies with advanced manufacturing technologies and systems in order to boost their potential in the manufacturing and process industries to improve the quality of products and processes. At the same time, it is important to consider how humans and AI will work together in optimal complementarity.

The EC is now investing in research and innovation actions that will build on the current state-of-the-art to:

  • Integrate AI technologies in the manufacturing domain
  • Develop innovative concepts and tools of AI application in manufacturing
  • Build on the AI4EU platform, where relevant
  • Promote the effective collaboration between humans and AI
  • Ensure the application of Trustworthy AI
  • Demonstrate technologies and solutions in different manufacturing cases

More on the call ICT-38-2020

Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs (I4MS)

The EU supports the widespread uptake of digital technologies in manufacturing business operations. Since 2013, the I4MS initiative has helped SMEs and mid-caps to improve their products, business processes, and business models via digital technologies. Launching the 4th phase of this initiative, Digital Innovation Hubs are called for that strengthen European SMEs and mid-caps by experimenting and testing Artificial Intelligence techniques in manufacturing. Experiments should aggregate and analyse data from multiple sources.

In addition to AI, the call invites for testing and experimentation actions in other areas, such as:

  • Smart modelling, simulation, and optimisation for digital twins
  • Laser based equipment in advanced and additive manufacturing
  • Cognitive autonomous systems and human-robot interaction

The participation of Digital Innovation Hubs in so far underrepresented regions is particularly encouraged.

More on the call DT-ICT-03-2020

Learn more on these topics by:

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/investing-ai-manufacturing

EU artificial intelligence ethics checklist ready for testing as new policy recommendations are published

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The European Commission has just launched the pilot phase of the ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI, as the High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence released its policy recommendations.

Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, said:

The new recommendations presented by the experts are an essential input for our continuing joint work with EU Member States to ensure the development of a trustworthy AI – the use of ground-breaking technology that respects privacy, provides transparency and prevents discrimination. Shaped in this way, artificial intelligence technologies can become a real competitive advantage for European businesses and society as a whole.

At the first AI Alliance Assembly in Brussels today, the High-Level Expert Group on AI announced two important developments:

1. Piloting phase of the ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI

As of today, organisations can test the assessment list for trustworthy artificial intelligence, developed by a group of 52 independent experts on behalf of the Commission, and see how robust it is in practice. Over 300 organisations have already expressed interest in doing so since the group released its Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI in April this year. An online survey has been created to gather feedback on the assessment list and will be open until 1 December 2019. Best practice examples for assessing the trustworthiness of AI can also be shared through the European AI Alliance.

The expert group will also carry out in-depth interviews with selected representatives from the public and private sectors to better understand the implications of implementing the assessment list in different sectors. Organisations who would like to participate can express interest through the pilot registration form.

Both the interviews and the feedback from the piloting survey will feed into a revised version of the assessment list, to be presented in early 2020, and will impact the next steps to be taken by the new Commission.

2. Policy and investment recommendations for trustworthy AI in Europe

The expert group also today presented to the Commission a list of 33 recommendations that it believe will help AI have major impact on citizens, businesses, administrations and academia. The focus is on ensuring sustainability, growth, competitiveness and inclusion while empowering, benefiting and protecting individuals. The recommendations presented today will help the Commission and Member States to update their joint coordinated plan on AI at the end of the year, which plays a key role in building the future of artificial intelligence in Europe.

The recommendations call on EU and national policymakers to:

  • Empower and protect humans and society: ensure individuals understand the capabilities, limitations and impacts of AI; protect them from any harm; and provide them with the necessary skills to use and benefit from AI.
  • Take up a tailored approach to the AI market: assess the different needs and sensitivities  raised by AI systems used in Business-to-consumers (B2C), Business-to-business (B2B) and Public-to-Citizens (P2C) contexts, and address these accordingly.
  • Secure a Single European Market for Trustworthy AI: remove barriers to procure lawful, ethical and robust AI-enabled goods and services from all over Europe, while enabling a competitive global position through large integrated markets.
  • Enable AI ecosystems through sectoral multi-stakeholder alliances: boost stakeholder cooperation across civil society, industry, the public sector and research and academia, while understanding the different impacts and enablers for different sectors.
  • Foster the European data economy: further advance policy actions in data access, sharing, reusing and interoperability, while ensuring high privacy and data protection, and putting in place the necessary physical infrastructures.
  • Exploit the multi-faceted role of the public sector: ensure the public sector leads by example by delivering human-centric public services, making strategic use of innovation-driven public procurement, and fostering cooperation with stakeholders.
  • Strenghten and unite Europe’s research capabilities: establish and demonstrate intellectual and commercial leadership in AI by bringing together European research capacity in a multidisciplinary manner.
  • Nurture education to the Fourth Power: ensure a wide skills base through primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as enabling continuous learning and strive towards a work-life-train balance.
  • Adopt a risk-based governance approach to AI and ensure an appropriate regulatory framework: map relevant laws, assess to which extent these are still fit for purpose in an AI-driven world, and adopt new measures where needed to protect individuals from harm, thus contributing to an appropriate governance and regulatory framework for AI.
  • Stimulate an open and lucrative investment environment: enhance investment levels in AI with both public and private support.
  • Embrace a holistic way of working, combining a 10-year vision with a rolling action plan: look at AI’s overall opportunities and challenges for the next 10 years, while continuously monitoring the AI landscape and adapting actions on a rolling basis as needed; join forces with all stakeholders for the concrete implementation of the ethics guidelines and policy recommendations.

Background

The Commission is facilitating and enhancing cooperation on AI across the EU to boost its competitiveness and ensure trust based on EU values. Following its  strategy on AI for Europe, the Commission set up the High-Level Expert Group on AI, which consists of 52 independent experts representing academia, industry and civil society. They published a first draft of the ethics guidelines in December 2018, followed by a stakeholder consultation and meetings with representatives from Member States to gather feedback. This followed the coordinated plan with Member States to foster the development and use of AI in Europe, also presented in December 2018. The final ethics guidelines were presented in April 2019 when the Commission also announced the pilot phase to refine the assessment list that helps organisations implement these guidelines.

Europe is known for high-quality and safe products, and these guidelines are the attempt to transfer this promise to the burgeoning area of AI. Trustworthy AI can become a real competitive advantage for European AI companies.

The EU AI strategy aims at increasing the combined public and private investments to €20 billion annually over the next decade, making more data available, fostering talent and ensuring trust. The EU’s first ever Digital Europe Programme will dedicate €2.5 billion to support the deployment of AI and the building up of additional capacities in this domainacross Europe.

More information

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/eu-artificial-intelligence-ethics-checklist-ready-testing-new-policy-recommendations-are-published

The future of work? Work of the future!

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We are used to thinking about artificial intelligence (AI) in the future tense, speculating how technological developments in this area will affect us. But if we spend too much time trying to figure out what to expect in the future, we risk not seeing that AI and robotisation have already started transforming our daily lives.

While historical evidence suggests that previous waves of automation have been overwhelmingly positive for the economy and society, AI is in a different league, with the potential to be much more disruptive. It builds upon other digital technologies but also brings about and amplifies major socioeconomic changes of its own.

What do recent technological developments in AI and robotisation mean for the economy, businesses and jobs? Should we be worried or excited? Which jobs will be destroyed and which new ones created? What should education systems, businesses, governments and social partners do to manage the coming transition successfully?

These are some of the questions considered by Michel Servoz, Senior Adviser on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and the Future of Labour, in this in-depth study requested by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Download the study here.

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/future-work-work-future

Artificial intelligence: 79 partners from 21 countries to develop an AI-demand-platform with €20 million EU funding

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The AI4EU project officially starts this month, with a kick-off meeting among the partners in Barcelona on 10 January. AI4EU brings together 79 top research institutes, SMEs and large enterprises in 21 countries to build a focal point for artificial intelligence (AI) resources, including data repositories, computing power, tools and algorithms. It will offer services and provide support to potential users of the technology, help them test and integrate AI solutions in their processes, products and services.

AI4EU, an open and collaborative platform, will also provide upskilling and reskilling courses. The AI4EU project team will work closely with the Digital Innovation Hubs for robotics and the future network of AI excellence centres to further facilitate access to AI technology.

Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip and Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel said:

Europe can only reap the full benefits of AI innovations if this technology is easily usable by all. The AI4EU project will help bring AI to small businesses, non-tech companies and public administrations across Europe.

The project, led by the French company Thales, receives a total funding of €20 million over the next 3 years. The platform will be set up in the course of 2019. On 25 April 2018, the Commission presented its strategy on artificial intelligence, announcing the development of the AI-on-demand platform. Overall the Commission is increasing its investment in research and innovation in AI to €1.5 billion for the period 2018-2020 under the Horizon 2020 programme. Total public and private investments in the EU should reach at least €20 billion by the end of 2020. Building on its strategy, the Commission presented in December a coordinated plan to foster cooperation with EU Member States, Norway, and Switzerland in four key areas: increasing investment, making more data available, fostering talent and ensuring trust.

More information

AI4EU project website

AI4EU project launches on 1 January 2019 

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/artificial-intelligence-79-partners-21-countries-develop-ai-demand-platform-eu20-million-eu-funding

Have your say: European expert group seeks feedback on draft ethics guidelines for trustworthy artificial intelligence

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The High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence released the first draft of its ethics guidelines for the development and use of artificial intelligence.

Today, the High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence, which was appointed by the Commission in June, released the first draft of its Ethics Guidelines for the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI). In this document, the independent group of 52 experts coming from academia, business and civil society, sets out how developers and users can make sure AI respects fundamental rights, applicable regulation and core principles, and how the technology can be made technically robust and reliable.

Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip and Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel thanked the group for their work.

Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said:

AI can bring major benefits to our societies, from helping diagnose and cure cancers to reducing energy consumption. But for people to accept and use AI-based systems, they need to trust them, know that their privacy is respected, that decisions are not biased. The work of the expert group is very important in this regard and I encourage everyone to share their comments to help finalise the guidelines.

Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel added:

The use of artificial intelligence, like the use of all technology must always be aligned with our core values and uphold fundamental rights. The purpose of the ethics guidelines is to ensure this in practice. Since this challenge concerns all sectors of our society, it is important that everybody can comment and contribute to the work in progress. Please join the European AI Alliance and let us have your feedback!

Update: The draft Ethics Guidelines are now open for comments until 1 February and discussions are taking place through the European AI Alliance, the EU’s multi-stakeholder platform on AI.

In March 2019, the expert group will present their final guidelines to the Commission which will analyse them and propose how to take this work forward. The ambition is then to bring Europe’s ethical approach to the global stage. The Commission is opening up cooperation to all non-EU countries that are willing to share the same values.

Background

Following its European approach on AI published in April 2018, the Commission set up a High-Level Expert Group on AI, which consists of 52 independent experts representing academia, industry, and civil society. This first draft Ethics Guidelines were prepared through a number of meetings since June 2018 and takes into account feedback from many discussions through the European AI Alliance. It also follows the announcements of the EU coordinated plan with the Member States, the Declaration of Cooperation on AI and the proposed investment of at least €7 billion in AI from the Horizon Europe and Digital Europe programmes.

More information

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/have-your-say-european-expert-group-seeks-feedback-draft-ethics-guidelines-trustworthy-artificial

Commission awards €66.000.000 to new robotics and artificial intelligence projects

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On 6 December the European Commission awarded €66.000.000 to robotics projects that will help digitise companies across the European Union.

Four projects and one coordination support action have been awarded under the Digitising European Industry Call of Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation programme. They will all help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt new technologies in the robotics and artificial intelligence area. Nearly half of the money dedicated to these Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) projects  will be dispatched to local companies by involving them in mini-projects or experiments. Calls for this will open in the following months.

The four awarded projects are:

  • DIH^2: a network of 26 DIHs, with a target to reach over 170 DIHs. The goal of the network is to spark incremental and disruptive innovations in over 300.000 manufacturing SMEs. It will help SMEs unleash their digitalisation potential by enabling robot solutions that are more cost effective at lower lot sizes.
  • DIH-HERO: will establish a broad pan-European network of DIHs specialising in healthcare robotics. The network will focus on developing services that help companies develop innovative products and services for the healthcare market.
  • TRINITY: wants to create a network of multidisciplinary DIHs consisting of research centers, companies, and university groups that cover a wide range of topics. Advanced robotics will be the driving force and digital tools while data privacy and cyber security technologies can support the introduction of advanced robotic systems in production processes.
  • RIMA: aims to establish a network of 13 DIHs on robotics to facilitate uptake of inspection and maintenance technologies. They want to increase competitiveness, enhance productivity and make critical infrastructure available to reduce hazardous substance emission and foster sustainable industrial networks.

One CSA, RODIN, led by euRobotics will gather information from the networks and develop collaboration with and between the DIHs.

For more information

Digitising European Industry

Digital innovation hubs catalogue

ICT under Horizon 2020

Artificial Intelligence

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-awards-eu66000000-new-robotics-and-artificial-intelligence-projects

Artificial Intelligence: Public-Private Partnerships join forces to boost AI progress in Europe

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At ICT 2018 in Vienna the Big Data Value Association and euRobotics agreed to cooperate more in order to boost the advancement of artificial intelligence’s (AI) in Europe.

Both associations want to strengthen their collaboration on AI in the future. Specifically by:

  • Working together to boost European AI, building on existing industrial and research communities and on results of the Big Data Value PPP and SPARC PPP. This to contribute to the European Commission’s ambitious approach to AI, backed up with a drastic increase investment, reaching €20 billion total public and private funding in Europe until 2020.
  • Enabling joint-pilots, for example, to accelerate the use and integration of big data, robotics and AI technologies in different sectors and society as a whole
  • Exchanging best practices and approaches from existing and future projects of the Big Data PPP and the SPARC PPP
  • Contributing to the European Digital Single Market, developing strategic roadmaps and  position papers

This Memorandum of Understanding between the PPPs follows the European Commission’s approach to AI presented in April 2018 and the Declaration of Cooperation on Artificial Intelligence signed by all 28 Member States and Norway. This Friday 7 December the Commission will present its EU coordinated plan.

Background

ICT 2018, Imagine Digital – Connect Europe, is one of the biggest tech events in Europe. It brings together over 5000 participants coming from academia, policy, industry and discusses topics such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, digitals skills and much more. euRobotics is the private partner in the SPARC PPP and focuses on the development and use of robotics technology across all industrial and service sectors. BDVA is the private partner of the BDV PPP and focuses on technology development and on the construction of an innovation ecosystem, supporting the growth of the European big data value economy.

Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/artificial-intelligence-public-private-partnerships-join-forces-boost-ai-progress-europe