"Alarm signal"

Research Council calls for a better AI strategy

The Research Council and the Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence have made seven recommendations to the next Federal Government to create better framework conditions for the development and use of AI. Specifically, they call for a revision of the current AI strategy, a dedicated State Secretariat for Digitalization and an independent national AI competence center. 

Although the EU's AI Act ("Artificial Intelligence Act") provides the legal and regulatory framework, implementation is decided at national level, which could lead to very different regulations. "We consider it extremely important for Europe as a research and business location that national implementation is carried out in a uniform and targeted manner across Europe - i.e. without excessive restrictions," says Research Council Chairman Thomas Henzinger. The fact that Europe and Austria have little presence in the development and design of AI and that none of the leading companies come from Europe is an alarm signal.

The AI strategy "Artificial Intelligence Mission Austria 2030" presented in 2021 should be supplemented or updated to include new developments such as the so-called large language models (LLM) on which ChatGPT and Co. are based, according to the Council for Research, Science, Innovation and Technology Development in unison with the advisory board, which is to advise the federal government on technical, ethical and social aspects of AI. A concrete implementation plan must also be drawn up.

A State Secretariat for Digitalization needs sufficient capacity to be able to fulfil a central coordination function within the federal government. A national AI competence center should support the public in "AI literacy", private and public institutions in the further training of employees, but also in the transformation of organizations.

In addition, the creation of an attractive environment for research and development, the consideration of the latest technologies in the implementation of the Austrian data strategy and the strengthening of public confidence in new technologies are recommended.