Artificial intelligence could “totally jeopardize democracy” if left unchecked, Emmanuel Macron told Wired magazine.
But that wont stop the French president from promoting the use of digital algorithms to make public and private services more efficient. The technology should instead be open to scrutiny to ensure public trust, Macron 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,” he said in an interview.
AI could revolutionize major industries in the fields of energy, defense, transport, finance and medicine, he said. But “people will eventually reject this innovation” if they dont trust it, Macron warned.
The president guaranteed that all AI algorithms that his government creates will be open to scrutiny to mitigate the threat to democracy. That level of transparency will also apply to algorithms that are developed by firms that get cash from the French authorities.
“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,” Macon said. “This is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.”
On Thursday. Macron said his government would invest €1.5 billion into AI research until the end of his term in 2022 as part of a strategy to accelerate innovation.
“We have to be in a position to build, in France and in Europe, an artificial intelligence ecosystem,” Macron said.
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