Vice-President Ansip and Minister Hirai discussed bilateral EU-Japan cooperation to promote a human-centric approach to artificial intelligence (AI)
Today, Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, and Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, met Takuya Hirai, Japan’s Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy.
Vice-President Ansip and Minister Hirai said after their meeting:
“The speed of AI’s development and the global changes that it entails are at the heart of EU-Japan cooperation. It is not only important to advance and progress in AI, but also to develop and promote human-centric and ethical approaches in technologies as a basis for the development and deployment of AI. In this way, we can build trust, encourage people’s understanding and acceptance of AI and develop societies that embrace it.
“In this regard, we welcome two publications: Japan’s “Social Principles of Human-Centric AI” and the European Commission’s Communication on Building Trust in Human-Centric AI.
“Our approaches share common values and aims. Japan has set out seven principles: (1) human-centric, (2) education, (3) privacy, (4) security, (5) fair competition, (6) fairness, accountability, transparency and (7) innovation. These will form the basis for creating a human-centric “Society 5.0” that can successfully combine cyberspace with physical space. They go hand in hand with the seven key requirements that the Commission supports to develop AI that people can trust: (1) human agency and oversight, (2) technical robustness and safety, (3) privacy and data governance, (4) transparency, (5) diversity, non-discrimination and fairness, (6) environmental and societal well-being and (7) accountability.
“Our common work on data and trust is essential for the successful development and deployment of AI.
“The European Union and Japan will continue to work closely together to promote international common understanding on AI ethics/principles, in international fora such as the G7 and G20.”
Commissioner Moedas and Minister Hirai Carlos Moedas agreed that the latest developments in respective research and innovation policies present new opportunities to continue strengthening EU-Japan cooperation.
Commissioner Moedas and Minister Hirai said after their meeting:
“The EU is preparing to launch its new research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe. The new Japanese Moonshot Research & Development Programme, at the same time, promotes R&D for disruptive innovation and targets solutions to ambitious social and economic challenges. With the introduction of these new programmes on both sides, we expect EU-Japan cooperation in science, technology and innovation to increase in areas of mutual interest, in line with last year’s EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement.”
As part of the 26th EU-Japan Summit on 25 April, both sides committed to extending the co-funding of joint projects and welcomed the new arrangement to provide opportunities for collaboration between researchers from the European Research Council and Japan Science and Technology Agency.
