European Strategy on AI: Are we truly fostering social good?

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how European countries' AI strategies aim to promote social good by examining their investments and plans, highlighting the alignment with European values and the potential societal impact.

Contribution

It provides a qualitative analysis of 15 European national AI strategies, assessing their focus on social good and investment approaches.

Findings

European countries are investing variably in AI development.

Most strategies emphasize aligning AI with European values.

There is a focus on societal benefits and risks in national plans.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already part of our daily lives and is playing a key role in defining the economic and social shape of the future. In 2018, the European Commission introduced its AI strategy able to compete in the next years with world powers such as China and US, but relying on the respect of European values and fundamental rights. As a result, most of the Member States have published their own National Strategy with the aim to work on a coordinated plan for Europe. In this paper, we present an ongoing study on how European countries are approaching the field of Artificial Intelligence, with its promises and risks, through the lens of their national AI strategies. In particular, we aim to investigate how European countries are investing in AI and to what extent the stated plans can contribute to the benefit of the whole society. This paper reports the main findings of a qualitative analysis of the investment plans reported in 15 European National Strategies