AI Now Institute Redirecting Europe's AI Industrial Policy. From Competitiveness to Public Interest October 16, 2024
Executive summary As Europe’s nascent industrial policy on AI gains steady momentum, potentially allocating significant public and private funds and shaping regulatory actions, we need public scrutiny and debate to assess these initiatives critically. That’s where this report intervenes: to ask hard questions about the resource allocation in these nascent strategies and the process by which priorities will be decided; and, most fundamentally, to examine the premises underlying this vision How does the market structure of large-scale AI challenge traditional strategies for achieving digital independence? Is Europe’s technological dependence on a few dominant incumbents reversible, or is the dependence structural? Do we have a robust evidence base to undergird the claims of AI’s long-term benefits, including productivity gains and potential for breakthrough science? Does public investment in AI contradict Europe’s social model and sustainability goals? Could the narrow focus on AI for public investment in technology create infrastructural lock-in? Is the rapid deployment of AI tools in sensitive social sectors necessary for the efficient delivery of public services, or does this raise more concerns than benefits? This collection of essays and interviews by leading experts seeks to provide EU policymakers with policy research, perspectives, and evidence about the pitfalls and challenges that come with expanding public investment in the context of a highly concentrated global AI market. We also outline possible paths forward on competition, public digital infrastructure, and digital industrial and innovation policy more broadly. We will also explore what Europe’s dependence on incumbents looks like, and how competitive Europe’s AI market is in practice. While authors differ in their stances, backgrounds, and political positioning on these issues, they are united in showing that past tools and approaches are not fit for purpose. Contributors Cecilia Rikap Cristina Caffarra Fieke Jansen Michelle Thorne Sarah Chander Seda Gürses Margarida Silva Jeroen Merk MEP Kim Van Sparrentak Simona de Heer Burcu Kilic Udbhav Tiwari Francesca Bria Mark Scott Francesco Bonfiglio Zuzanna Warso <https://ainowinstitute.org/redirecting-europes-ai-industrial-policy>
