As part of the Pariser Platz Dialogue, two expert panels and three keynote speakers addressed the pressing subject of Artificial Intelligence in the EU from a Franco-German perspective during a discussion event at the French Embassy in Berlin.
“The future of Franco-German relations will be measured largely in the capacity to conceive together the technological revolution and to lead this revolution in terms of effort, research, ecosystems and industrial partnerships.” With an optimistic yet cautionary keynote, French Ambassador to Germany François Delattre opened the “Research meets Politics” discussion event in the afternoon of 1 October 2024 at the French Embassy in Berlin. Across three keynotes and two panel discussions, experts from Germany and France tackled the question: What does Europe need to be competitive in Artificial Intelligence?
State Secretary Stefan Schnorr from the German Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) gave a first and clear response: “In order to be able to participate in the AI race, and not in the second or third row but in the front row, we need our own, sovereign European AI ecosystem.” Regarding a Franco-German approach, he was optimistic: “What strikes me a lot is the vitality of the relations between our two countries’ companies, researchers, startups, the vitality of partnerships in terms of research efforts.”
Professor Philippe Aghion from the Collège de France delved deeper into the current state of research on Artificial Intelligence and its implications for the European economy and labour market: “We should not fear the AI revolution. The revolution has high growth and employment potential, but we need to adapt institutions and policies to succeed in the transition to the AI economy.” For the debates following his speech, Professor Aghion gave a clear stipulation: “We don’t do enough breakthrough innovation in the frontier areas. AI, biotech, software. We need to be there, we need to adapt.”
A European AI infrastructure with a Franco-German base
One defining subject of debate during the two panel discussions was the matter of regulation. With a clear message, Joanna Bryson opened the first panel: “Regulation is essential for innovation. It is through regulation that we maintain the market, so we can get money to the right people.” Joining the Professor of the Hertie School were Maik Außendorf, Spokesperson for Digital Affairs and Member of the German Bundestag, Gesche Joost, Head of the Design Research Department of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Fréderic Pascal, Director of the DATAIA Institute at CentralSupélec, and Corinne Narassiguin, Senator in the French Senate and Rapporteur on AI.
“The fact that European AI is trustworthy – I think that is an area in which we can become leaders compared to the US”, Senator Narassiguin pointed out in conversation with Moderator Silke Wettach, an independent journalist from Brussels, before specifying: “We have to take the lead in terms of producing AI for good, in terms of ethical AI, in terms of AI where we also think about things like the impact on society on children. We have no idea what it means to raise a child that is interacting with AI from a very early age.”
Another point of debate for the first panel was the attractiveness of the EU for global talent in the area of Artificial Intelligence – a lack of which is not the problem, according to Fréderic Pascal: “I think in Europe, we are very good at talent training. The next step is to keep the talent. If everybody knows that Europe is the continent for AI, of course people will stay.” To Maik Außendorf, a major contributor to this development would mean “setting up a European AI infrastructure, which could have a Franco-German base, but shouldn’t be limited to it.”
Finding balance while staying relevant
The second panel took up the matter of the European single market and its readiness for AI: “The key reason why other economies have better developed in these cutting-edge technologies like AI is simply because there is a higher volume of venture capital”, Matthias Koehler underlined a core problem. “France is a big economy, Germany is a big economy – but the US as a market is much bigger”, continued the Section Head at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
Joining him on the panel were Robert Kilian, Board Member of the German AI Association, Marie-Avril Roux Steinkühler, Vice-President of French Tech Berlin, and Claire Thirriot-Kwant, Head of Finance and Economics at the French Embassy in Berlin. For Marie-Avril Roux Steinkühler, the dominance of the US-American market represents a central problem in the development of AI tools and the use of content. Mentioning US-based services like ChatGPT, she criticised: “You decide to opt out and say ‘No, don’t take my content’. But at the end of the day, you disappear from knowledge.”
Closely linked to the question of AI in the European single market was the matter of protecting rights through regulation: “We speak about electoral processes, we speak about health, we speak about avoiding discrimination, bias et cetera – so we have to find a balance”, Claire Thirriot-Kwant demanded. Implementing regulation such as the AI Act is therefore key for the success of AI in the European single market. For Robert Kilian, an important factor for this is the participation of the industry: “The AI standards are not the responsibility of politics, they are also not the responsibility of the administration. It is the possibility and obligation of all of us – the industry in particular.”
Making Europe deliver
Closing the two rounds of discussion and leading over to the reception was Dr. Johannes Lindner, Co-Director of the Jacques Delors Centre, who tied the knot with the opening remarks by Ambassador Delattre: “I think we still need to bring an update as to where Europe delivers.” Following the cautionary assessment, Lindner concluded optimistically: “Even though both our countries are very much focused on the challenges of populism, domestic politics – maybe on AI, there is a consensus where an AI community could be a new impetus to address the thorny issues.”
This “Research meets Politics” event was part of the Pariser Platz Dialogue series, bringing together French, German, and European key players to discuss European policy, initiated by Henrik Enderlein and supported by the Federal Foreign Office. You can watch a recording of the event below.
Photos: Maurice Weiss
