Artificial Intelligence in Times of Geopolitical Conflict

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a transformative set of technologies, powerful in the hands of those who control it. Effectively governing AI is therefore a key challenge for 21st century societies. The European Union thus far seems to have supported an idea of AI as ''trustworthy'', a vision distinct from American-style tech company dominance or government surveillance of citizens, as is common in China. Rising geopolitical tensions are changing the tone of AI debates: there is an increasing emphasis on the potential AI has for military purposes. The war against Ukraine illustrates uses and failures of AI on the battlefield. And both the USA and China underline how in an emerging stand-off between these global tech superpowers, military dominance is the ultimate prize in the AI race. What room does that leave for an approach that enlists AI as a support of human wellbeing and thriving, rather than as a tool of conflict and control?

Daniel Mügge is Professor of Political Arithmetic at the University of Amsterdam. He currently leads the RegulAIte project about emerging EU AI rules, financed by an NWO Vici grant. In the past, he has worked as a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics, Harvard University, and the Free University Berlin.

This event is organised in collaboration with Young Academy Groningen and the Jantina Tammes School for digital society, technology and AI.