ZEW Economist Irene Bertschek on the Bletchley Declaration

At the AI Safety Summit held by the UK in Bletchley Park, countries such as Germany, the United States, China and others joined the host country in signing a declaration. Irene Bertschek, head of ZEW’s “Digital Economy” Unit and Professor of Economics of Digitalisation at Justus Liebig University Giessen, has commented on that matter:

“The Bletchley Declaration is about as concrete of an agreement as we could expect given that it was signed by so many different countries. The declaration sends the message that the relevant stakeholders are interested in utilising the innovation and growth potential of artificial intelligence as a general-purpose technology. At the same time, it demonstrates an awareness of the possible risks that are associated with the use of AI technology. Now it comes down to how the countries who signed the declaration will concretely develop relevant policies. As for the EU, the AI Act needs to be adopted and take effect. This kind of regulation needs to allow for dynamic adaptations to take place in order to consider both future technological developments as well as the potential effects of AI. Not least because of this expected momentum, the AI Safety Summit in Bletchley should ideally not be the last of its kind.”