Interaction Day Interaction Day, chaired by Mr. Vasilis Koulolias, looked at the future of public services through the use of AI. While a number of public administrations worldwide are deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address societal challenges with greater efficiency and personalised service to citizens, there are still others who are sceptical about the implications. Specific use algorithms greet us on our digital devices, connect us to news of personal focus and partly take on the driver’s seat! In production, we see changes concerning work culture and environment, as well as introduction of new infrastructures- all presenting new challenges in ethics, data privacy and governance for legal researchers, experts and practitioners. The day kicked off with Professor Love Ekenberg of Computer and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University and Senior Research Scholar at International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria who supported that there will be no machine taking over everything independent of human “intelligence.” Prof. Ekenberg suggested five rules to follow when considering the use of AI: There must be a democratic discourse in the technological development Policies must consciously address the effects of automatisation Regulations are needed to determine degrees of automatisation and application domains Algorithms must be transparent and be perceived as fair Collaboration is required between engineers, ethicists, lawyers and policymakers and so on Mr. Yih-Jeou Wang, Head of International co-operation, Agency for Digitization with the Danish Ministry of Finance talked about Mapping the Eco-system: AI, Data-usage, and Ethical Challenges. Mr. Wang gave examples of Denmark’s AI and Data use in healthcare and highlighted the ethical standards to be considered when such advancement is implemented. Specifically: Control: Who should control your data? Dignity: Should individual dignity be prioritised higher than commercial goals? Responsibility: Who should be responsible for the impact of technological solutions? Which part of the value-chain should be considered? Equality and the sense of fairness: Equal and fair access to technology? Agility and progressivity: How should the balance be between innovative solutions and ethical considerations? Diversity: Who should be involved in the development of technological solutions? The “deep-dives” sessions of this day allowed government CIOs, public servants, industry, civil society and AI experts to examine AI and the Public Sector Today as well as the Future of AI within the Public Sector while considering the accomplishments, future challenges and the role that public administration should play for the overall benefit of society. The discussions focused on four specific topics: Governance, Ethics and Legal Soft and Hard Infrastructure that Support Machine Learning Robotics, General/Specific Function Human Resources, Capacity Building An ICA publication will be generated based on the findings of this day’s outcomes; including recommendations to these through further scientific research that will follow in the upcoming months. A great thank you to Mr. Vasilis Koulolias for chairing this day!
