"Without binding rules, AI guidelines are just wishful thinking", 27 June 2018

Over the last two years, many countries have released their official strategies on artificial intelligence (AI)... One shared concern of these official documents (...) is the fear of “missing the boat” as technological progress brings rapid changes in society that are likely to affect directly the global balance of power, military strength, economic wealth, and social structures... —with little regard to the human rights risks of these actions. The common features (...) suggest close cooperation between state, industry and academia... The weakest side of these strategy documents is an inability to suggest any clear approach to the different sections of society, primarily workers and small and medium-sized enterprises. These strategies contain short sections regarding ethical concerns, but they are generally abstract, repeating similar concepts such as accountability, transparency and complying with ethical rules. But official strategies should go beyond these wishes.... AI strategies should not only reflect existing competitions/rivalries and future strategies of corporations and states. Members of society (...) should have a say in what kind of future they would like to live in and how they would like to benefit from the technological revolution.