AI governance:
A European perspective

Intro

Onur Korucu:  

We are still understanding the real fundamentals of AI. So AI governance means that we should understand all compliance, all legislative, all technical background about that. And maybe on the top of it we should say that still, we are human beings and we need ethics and a trustworthy and responsible future. 

What's Europe's role in the global AI race? 

Barry Scannell: 

In terms of the AI race, it's not about being number one, it's about being the best. So when we talk about Ireland or Europe leading in terms of AI, we're not saying we're going to be number one with the technology or anything, but being the best in terms of how it's implemented. And what is the best for one person might be different to another. 

But from our perspective in Europe, it's about regulation and governance and trustworthy, human-centered AI. 

Onur Korucu:  

Our requirements, our understanding, our concerns and priorities are totally different. So that is why when you're trying to embed AI into your systems, first of all, you need to understand the privacy for you: as a human being's talent or as a human right, for dignity. Or is it just income issues for economical systems? 

So that is why there are really big differences between all different continents right now. So maybe we can say the US and China are the big brothers and we are just trying to be part of these big teams. But as a European in here, we must try to keep our reputation. We are lawmakers, we are keeping human dignities for the future. 

Hopefully, we can keep that kind of leverage for the future and we can defend human rights over the economics, over the money. 

Patrick Sullivan: 

You know, I think particularly in the US there's really the idea, the mentality, that regulation, that governance will slow innovation. And I don't find that to be the case at all.  

I had an opportunity to go to the World Cup qualifier last night to watch the Republic of Ireland play, and one of the things that I noted was that as the players got closest to the sidelines, to the edge of the pitch, they were able to pick up their speed and move more quickly, and that was largely due to the fact that they knew where inbounds was and where out of bounds was.  

And in many ways, that's what governance, that's what structure allows organizations to do, is to know when they're squarely inbounds, when they're squarely out of bounds. 

And how to move quickly to really innovate, iterate, bring new ideas to the market, inside the scope, inside the boundaries of what's fair play. So for me, for organizations, not just in the US but around the world, the idea of resilience, the idea of innovation are inextricably linked.  

Those two things go hand in hand. The better organizations are at innovating, the more resilient their systems will be and vice versa.  

How is AI impacting businesses already? 

Barry Scannell: 

It depends on the organization, so obviously it wouldn't surprise anybody that the more regulated organizations, such as pharmaceuticals or financial services, are very, very alive to this now.  

And then in terms of the actual AI providers themselves, they're very carefully looking at the legislation, but you see they're already currently as a now issue dealing with data-protection considerations, dealing with contractual elements, so looking ahead to things like high-risk AI and liability going forward, because they need to have their things like their product terms and their acceptable use policies in place.  

But what's started to come online in the last six months has been big organizations looking to implement AI and, you know, things like procurement teams focusing on AI and considering the AI Act, and the implications of the legislation for technology they're adopting within the organization. 

What might hold companies back from AI governance? 

Patrick Sullivan: 

From a resources perspective, the reality is there's a dearth in the market today, unfortunately. We see not just the practice of AI governance building, we see the community of people who are actually interested and practicing AI governance slowly building as well. But there is no question that we are behind the curve with supplying people that are educated, that are proficient at doing the job of governance today. 

Onur Korucu: 

Isn't that normal? Look around you. There are lots of lawyers, lots of security people, lots of different kind of disciplines working together, and maybe three, three years we can say we are talking about AI. Suddenly lots of people turn into an AI specialist, an AI governance expert. 

So, that is so normal. We are still understanding the real fundamentals of AI. So AI governance means that we should understand all compliance, all legislative, all technical background about that. And maybe on the top of it we should say that still, we are human beings and we need ethics and a trustworthy and responsible future. 

That is not easy. So, why we are always recommending all companies, multidisciplinary work is important. Come together and be stronger. 

Barry Scannel: 

People don't really know this, but some of the top AI researchers in the world, particularly around the area of safe AI and trustworthy AI are in Ireland, Irish universities and research institutions. 

So, you know, we've all of these factors at play. And I think Ireland really could take the mantle and should take the mantle of a leadership position in terms of how AI is adopted in a safe, human-centered aligned way.  

Onur Korucu:  

To be honest, we cannot guarantee that AI will change us in a positive way, but we can try it. 

We can work for that together. And it means also for companies, for societies, for governments, we're generally trying to not sacrifice security and privacy over innovation. It means that all corporate companies in the first line, security for data protection and human rights.

AI will change us. AI will change the technological environment. It's so obvious, that hopefully we will work together and train it in a trustworthy and responsible way to make it beneficial for humanity.