The WRR sees AI as a so-called system technology that will fundamentally change our lives, just like the arrival of electricity, the combustion engine and the computer did before. “It is impossible to determine in advance which public values will be affected by AI and in what way. It is clear that the role of government will grow as AI becomes more embedded in society.”
According to the Council, this vision of the future requires major government involvement. In the first place, it should give a realistic picture of AI: it is not something to be afraid of, but also not the solution for everything. The government must also invest in infrastructure and training, involve civil society organizations in AI, regulate (the use of) AI and set up a kind of AI diplomacy, in which there is cooperation with other countries.
In order to tackle all these points, the government would do well, according to the WRR, to set up an AI coordination center with its own ministerial council. “By taking action now, the Netherlands can reap the benefits of AI – the electricity of the 21st century.”
Hundreds of millions for AI
It is not the case that the government is now doing nothing at all in the field of AI. In October 2019, the ambition was expressed to 2 billion euros to be released for investments in artificial intelligence. “The core of Dutch AI policy is to capitalize on the social and economic opportunities of AI, and to safeguard the public interests in AI,” the then minister Kaag wrote to the House of Representatives at the end of May.
A month earlier, the Dutch AI coalition, a public-private partnership, was awarded 276 million allocated from the National Growth Fund. With this, the parties involved want to “put the Netherlands in the international leading group of countries, both in terms of social conditions and the economic use of AI”.
The European Commission also sees AI as an important development. New rules were therefore introduced in April presented.
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