Unleashing Innovation – Reducing Barriers to Innovation / Enhancing Market Confidence

Disclaimer

Draft – For discussion purposes only; does not represent the views of the G7 or its members. This discussion paper was drafted to guide the discussion during the breakout sessions at the December 6, 2018, G7 Multistakeholder Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Montreal, Canada.

Executive Summary

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has matured considerably over the past years and is becoming the main driver for the digitalization of value chains and development of autonomous systems generating new value for citizen, economy and society. AI is now finding its way from research into an increasingly broad base of usage scenarios. This is complemented by increasing investments from public and private side to leverage the usage of AI technology for a wide range of applications.

Realizing the broad potential of AI technologies will require thoughtful investments and coordinated action on a national as well as global level. All G7 countries have released their own AI strategies to promote the use and development of AI aiming to foster leadership in AI.

For instance, the U.S. has established four pillars to guide industry, academic, and government efforts to realize the full potential of AI. These pillars include i) supporting the national AI R&D ecosystem ii) developing the American workforce to take full advantage of the benefits of AI iii) removing barriers to AI innovation in the United States, and iv) enabling high-impact, sector-specific applications of AI. The U.S. has begun implementing this strategy through guidance to Federal agencies to prioritize R&D investments in AI and the establishment of a Select Committee on AI.

In Europe to fully exploit the potential of AI in the economy and society earlier this year a new EU Strategy on AI was published in the Communication on Artificial Intelligence for Europe. Underpinning the EU ambition to become a world leader in responsible and trusted AI, the new EU strategy takes a three-pronged approach of:  i) boosting the EU's technological and industrial capacity and AI uptake across the economy, ii) preparing for socio-economic changes brought about by AI, and iii) ensuring an appropriate ethical and legal framework.

With its strategy on AI, the German government fosters the application of AI in all areas of society to reach progress for the whole society and in the interest of all citizens. The strategy aims to strengthen Germany's leading position in research and focuses on the transfer of research findings to the private sector. This goal will be achieved by activities supporting ecosystem development with special support for SMEs, measures to foster mutual exchange between science and industry, activities together with European partners, and measures to improve access to and usage of data assets. Further, it emphasizes the importance of skills and qualification.

Although the mentioned three strategies are emphasizing different areas of AI policy, a few common key elements for boosting AI-driven innovation in G7 countries can be identified:

  • To strike careful balance between innovation and regulation, unnecessary barriers of innovation in AI could be investigated.
  • The creation of cross-national research networks and activities are promising endeavors to bundle forces of G7 nations to speed up innovation in AI.
  • Cross-national research in Explainable AI could be promoted to create more trustworthy AI and to help increase public acceptance and trust in AI.
  • AI evolution that is by design intertwined with cyber-security could help to protect AI algorithms as well as to make AI available as tool for increasing cyber security.
  • The access to large scale, high quality data is central for improving AI outcomes and offerings. Fostering the open access to training data could boost the development of AI applications.
  • Creating opportunities for workforce development could help G7 nations prepare workers with the skills needed for the AI-based jobs of the future.

Discussion Paper: Unleashing Innovation (PDF, 457 KB)