The spread of artificial intelligence has led to several regulatory actions around the world: Europe, China and the United States, first and foremost, have adopted a risk management-oriented approach and have implemented precise rules for the development of AI in their own country, each with a different approach and achieving a different impact. According to Giuseppe Santonato, AI Leader of EY EMEIA and AI Transformation Leader of EY Italia, who spoke today at the “AI Transition” event held in Milan, European Union regulation has facilitated the development of artificial intelligence.
According to an analysis by EY, in fact, it is possible to analyze the real impact of the rules imposed by different countries through four key indicators: the inclusion of AI in public strategies; the creation of operational models for AI management; the preparation of public administration; and the research and development capacity of individual countries.
European countries are well represented regarding the first two indicators, but there is still a lot of work to do from the point of view of readiness and technological research. In the next two years, Europe must work on two fundamental aspects: boosting its ability to carry out research by creating significant dedicated funding and focusing on developing the capacity of its operational machine by creating the right environment that allows it to create a system and encourage innovation .
“Regulations on artificial intelligence can be seen as a brake or as an enabler. To address competitiveness challenges with countries such as the US and China dominating in the ability to develop and deploy AI, Europe must work to ensure that it becomes an opportunity to improve its capabilities – he states Giuseppe Santonato, AI Leader of EY EMEIA and AI Transformation Leader of EY Italia – The AI Act played a fundamental role as it provided guidelines that supported the diffusion of AI in an extremely fragmented context such as the European one, also dictating specific ex ante commercial practices to avoid potential ex post risks. It is now necessary for European countries to seriously invest in artificial intelligence. The key for the future is to develop Europe’s capacity to carry out research, stimulating public-private collaboration and directing funds into vertical sectors of industries, since our economy is based on B2B dynamics. Only in this way will it be possible to promote economic development and employment growth and not slow down market effectiveness”.
As for the market, targeted investments in AI and Industry 5.0 could bring up to 8% of GDP in Italy by 2030. Currently, Italy ranks around 20th in terms of public administration readiness and research capacity. However, the AI Act has already had a positive impact on the level of skills and research and development capabilities, with an attractiveness index of +0.5, indicating that Europe attracts more talent than it loses.
