FRENCH president
Emmanuel Macron has warned that
artificial intelligence could “totally jeopardise
democracy”.
Although Mr Macron promotes the use of digital algorithms to make public and private services more efficient, he said in an interview with Wired magazine, that the technology should be open to public scrutiny to ensure public trust.
He said: ”My role is not to block this change, but to be able to train or retrain people for them to get opportunities in this new world.”
While AI could revolutionise major industries in the fields of medicine, energy, transport, defence and finance, Mr Macron warned that unless the technology can be trusted, “people will eventually reject this innovation”.
He guaranteed that all the AI algorithms created by his government will be transparent to reduce the threat to democracy which AI poses.
Other algorithms that are developed by firms receiving funding from French authorities will also be open to scrutiny to the same effect, Mr Macron said.
He explained: “I have to guarantee there is no bias in terms of gender, age, or other individual characteristics, except if this is the one I decided on behalf of them or in front of them.
“This is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.”
Mr Macron announced that the French government will be investing a massive €1.5 billion into AI research over the next four years until the end of his term in 2022, in a bid to accelerate innovation.
He said in a speech on Thursday: “We have to be in a position to build, in France and in Europe, an artificial intelligence ecosystem.
“We should have a policy of open data…and have to think on the subject from a political and ethical point of view … to come up with a common understanding and rules.”
In a briefing with journalists ahead of the announcement, Mr Macron’s aides said that France was lagging behind China and the US on AI, and wouldn’t be able to match their multi-billion dollar investment plans for research.
An aide said: “We missed all the big technological revolutions of recent years, but France has a card to play in the field of artificial intelligence.
“Either we seize the chance now, or we watch another wave pass us by.”
Mr Macron plans to lure French researchers, who hold top positions Silicon Valley AI departments, back to the country.