"Artificial Intelligence 101 - Back to Basics" - a report from the first discussion of the Artificial Intelligence series in the EARL
On 24 January 2020, EARL held the first in its series of public discussions on the role of artificial intelligence in today's society. The talk, titled “Artificial intelligence 101 – back to basics” focused on essential questions surrounding AI and Slovenia's role within it. With our guest, Dr Aljaž Košmerlj (Jožef Štefan Institute), we talked about the difference between automatisation and artifical intelligence, its impact in different fields (such as the economy) and its pros/cons, concluding it is too early in the development of AI to talk about the latter, especially in terms of technological singularity - the fear that AI will become more intelligent than humans.
Having learned that we are already surrounded with different segments of AI, which is also a crucial factor in the global economic development, the talk focused on international relations as well. In discussing the EU, the participants tried to analyse why the EU lags behind the USA and China in the development and use of artificial intelligence. After some debate, the two main causes identified were: fragmented activities in R&D and highly dispersed infrastructure.
In the second part of the discussion, we focused on Slovenia's role within the field of AI. In spite of financial restraints, Slovenia has a strong and high-quality research capabilities, our researchers being highly successful internationally. Having established IRCAI – International Research Centre on Articifial Intelligence in Ljubljana under the auspices of UNESCO and Jožef Štefan Institute, Slovenia's role will only increase in the future. Finally, Dr Košmerlj answered questions from the audience - the participants were concerned about ethical dilemmas of AI development, progress of IRCAI and the EU's vision about our role in AI innovation.
Our next discussion will be held on Friday, 28 February 2020 at 16:00 in a relaxed atmosphere inside the East Asia Resource Library (near FDV-08 classroom). We will host Dr Nataša Pirc Musar and talk about the implications of AI development and surveillance.