On 19 February 2020, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI), inviting citizens and stakeholders in the field of AI to provide feedback on the EU White Paper on Artificial Intelligence that came along the consultation until 14 June 2020. The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) considers it highly important to make an Evangelical contribution to the approach and therefore convened an expert group to formulate a response to the paper.

“We do recognise the added value of Artificial Intelligence in certain sectors and situations but not in all. Therefore, it was encouraging to see the emphasis in the EU Whitepaper on trustworthy and human-centred AI,” says Arie de Pater, EEA Brussels Representative and coordinator of the endeavor. “The Commission highlights the importance of human values and fundamental rights. Throughout the white paper, however, the only value specified is the economic value. We are created in God’s image as moral and relational human beings, responsible and accountable before God. Any use of AI should honour that, both at individual and societal level.”

After a detailed examination of the white paper, the expert group concluded that the mere identification of high-risk sectors and the distinction between high-risk and no-risk sectors in the white paper does not sufficiently capture the diverse applications of artificial intelligence and other data-driven technologies. For this reason, De Pater emphasizes, “We are calling for a comprehensive impact assessment tool for all AI. This should cover the full lifecycle of AI and include a wide scope of potential harms.”

In order to provide a continuous platform for Evangelical experts in the field of AI and form an Evangelical voice on digital matters in Europe, the EEA plans to develop an EEA Hope for Europe Digital World Network in the near future.

More information on the EEA response to the EU White Paper on Artificial Intelligence can be found here.