Artificial intelligence > Conference on AI: Intelligent machines, smart policies > Agenda and presentations
Thursday 26 October 2017: AI developments and applications
Conference Chair: Wonki Min, Chair of OECD Committee on Digital Economy Policy (CDEP), Korea
Opening keynote (via video)
- Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and author of Deep Thinking
Welcome remarks
- Andrew Wyckoff, OECD Director for Science, Technology and Innovation
- Masahiko Tominaga, Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan
Session 1. The state of AI research
This session provided an overview of current and expected development milestones of AI, focusing on the respective roles, skills, and relationship between humans and AI.
Session moderator: Kenneth Cukier, Senior Editor, The Economist, United Kingdom
- Francesca Rossi, Research Scientist, IBM Watson and Professor of Computer Science, University of Padova, Italy – Human-AI collaboration: technical and ethical challenges
- Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA – Human-compatible artificial intelligence
- Rodolphe Gelin, Robotics Software Engineering Lead, SoftBank Robotics, Paris – Robots, man’s best friend
- Osamu Sudoh, Professor, University of Tokyo Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Japan – Towards AI network society - addressing social, economic, ethical and legal issues
- Philipp Slusallek, Scientific Director at DFKI, Germany – Artificial intelligence and digital reality: Do we need a "CERN for AI"?
Session 2. AI applications and case studies
This session illustrated how AI is being applied to make better decisions, reduce costs and improve productivity in domains such as health and transportation but also more unexpectedly in areas such as arts & culture and services.
Session moderator: Andrew Wyckoff, OECD Director for Science, Technology and Innovation
- Valerio Dilda, Partner, Paris, McKinsey & Company – AI: perspectives and opportunities
- Reinhard Stolle, Department of Artificial Intelligence at BMW AG, Munich – AI as a driver of the automotive industry
- Max Yuan, founder and chairman, Xiaoi Robot Technology, Shanghai – AI empowers government and enterprises
- Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, European Policy Strategy, Google, London – Machine learning in action
Session 3. Close-up on AI in space applications
This session detailed how AI, combined with new and improved satellite data and signals, is driving space industry innovation in sectors such as finance, agriculture, land use, and disaster management. [session summary]
Session moderator: Claire Jolly, Head of the OECD Space Forum
- Tugdual Ceillier, Lead Data Scientist, EarthCube, Toulouse – Artificial intelligence and remote sensing: new capabilities to monitor infrastructure
- Bryan Yates, Director of Sales - EMEA region, Orbital Insight, Mountain View, California – New geoanalytics: tracking economies from space
- Thanh-Long Huynh, CEO, Quantcube Technology, Paris – Big data analytics for strategic intelligence
- Bahaa Alhaddad, Space Business Development, Starlab Space, Harwell Oxford, United Kingdom – Neurosciences and space data: a new big bang
- Alexander Cooke, Counsellor, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Australia – Digital Earth Australia
- Christophe Roeland, Policy Officer, Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, EC, Brussels – EC perspectives on the earth observation revolution
Session 4. Enhancing discovery: The role of AI in science
This session discussed how AI promise to improve research productivity at a time when ideas are becoming harder to find, pressure on public research budgets is increasing, and global challenges require scientific breakthroughs. [session summary]
Session moderator: Dominique Guellec, Head of OECD Science and Technology Policy Division
- Stephen Roberts, Professor of Machine Learning in Information Engineering, University of Oxford, United Kingdom – 21st century science: the age of intelligent algorithms
- Hiroaki Kitano, President and CEO of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Japan – The Nobel Turing Challenge: creating the engine of scientific discovery
- Ross King, Professor of Machine Intelligence, Manchester University School of Computer Science, United Kingdom – The automation of science
- Jonathan McLoone, Technical Director, Wolfram Research Europe – Preparing science for AI: rethinking education, research and publication
Session 5. AI policy landscape
This session provided an overview of AI-related initiatives by stakeholders from the private sector, research communities, civil society as well as governments, notably to ensure the compatibility of AI systems with societal norms. [session summary]
Session moderator: Anne Carblanc, Head of OECD Division on Digital Economy Policy
Non-governmental initiatives
- David Heiner, Strategic Policy Advisor at Microsoft Corporation and representative of the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence – Enabling the promise of artificial intelligence
- Nicolas Miailhe, Director for Artificial Intelligence, The Future Society @ Harvard Kennedy School of Government – Harnessing the power of collective intelligence to govern the rise of AI: the case of "algorithmic transparency & accountability" >> See also Nicolas Miailhe's video: "How to be smart about governing AI"
Governmental initiatives
- Italy: Benedetta Arese Lucini, Italy – G7 Italy: towards a human-centric AI
- Japan: Susumu Hirano, Faculty of Policy Studies/Professor, Dean, Graduate School of Policy Studies, Chuo University – AI R&D guidelines
- France: Cédric Villani, député LREM de l’Essonne, chargé de mission IA – Overview of AI policy initiative in France
- China: Xiao Zhang, Vice Director, China Internet Network Information Center – Overview of China's digital economy and AI policy
- Finland: Pekka Sivonen, Director, Digitalisation Strategy and Programmes, Tekes Innovation Funding Agency, Finland – Ambitious development programs enabling rapid growth of AI and platform economy in Finland
- Estonia: Marten Kaevats, National Digital Advisor, Government Office of Estonia – Estonia's ideas on legalising AI
- European Commission: Cécile Huet, Deputy Head of Unit, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, EC, DG CONNECT – The European Commission's initiatives on AI
Friday 27 October 2017: Public policy considerations raised by AI
Session 6. Employment and skills
This session discussed the impact of AI on the labour market and the role of skills, social and labour market policies and institutions in helping countries to translate AI-driven productivity gains into higher well-being for all.
Session moderator: Mark Keese, Head of OECD Division on Skills and Employability
- Frank Levy, Rose Professor Emeritus, MIT – Computers and populism
- Christina Colclough, Senior Policy Advisor, UNI Global Union – Putting people and planet first: ethical AI enacted
- James Hairston, Head of Public Policy, Oculus VR, Facebook – AI, employment, and general purpose technologies
- Stuart Elliott, Director of Board on Testing and Assessment, US National Academy of Science – AI and the future of skill demand
- Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF) – New transport for the new digital age
Session 7. Privacy and security
This session examined how machine learning approaches combined with ever-increasing amounts of personal data affect data protection principles and how to guide AI developments towards social goals while respecting privacy and equity.
Session moderator: Katarina de Brisis, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, Norway; Chair of OECD Working Party on Security and Privacy in the Digital Economy
- Peter Fleischer, Global Privacy Counsel, Google – Privacy and AI: designing machine learning systems to respect privacy
- Taylor Owen, Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia – Governing digital infrastructure
- Mathias Cellarius, Data Protection and Privacy Officer, SAP – AI: challenges and opportunities for data protection
- Kenneth Cukier, Senior Editor, The Economist, United Kingdom – Do privacy laws obstruct beneficial uses of data?
Session 8. Safety, responsibility and liability
This session discussed questions of safety, responsibility and liability raised by AI-driven automated decision-making. [session summary]
Session moderator: Wonki Min, Chairman, OECD Committee for Digital Economy Policy (CDEP), Korea
- Rod Freeman, international products lawyer, Partner at Cooley, UK – Evolution or revolution? The future of regulation and liability for AI
- Hans Ingels, Head of Unit, Single Market Policy, Mutual Recognition and Surveillance, European Commission, DG GROW – Artificial intelligence and EU product liability law
- Pierre Chalançon, Chair of the BIAC Consumer Task Force and Vice President Regulatory Affairs, Vorwerk & Co KG, Representation to the EU – Science fiction is not a sound basis for legislation
- Georg Borges, Professor, Faculty of Law, Saarland University, Germany – Liability for machine-made decisions: gaps and potential solutions
Session 9. Transparency, oversight and ethics
This session discussed issues of fairness, transparency and accountability of AI-powered decisions and potentially competing goals of productivity and commercial confidentiality.
Session moderator: Douglas Frantz, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD
- Konstantinos Karachalios, Managing Director of the IEEE-Standards Association – The role of technical communities in making intelligent technologies work for the benefit of humanity
- Joanna Bryson, Reader at University of Bath, and Affiliate, Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University – Current and potential impacts of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems on society
- Carolyn Nguyen, Director of Technology Policy, Microsoft – Designing AI to earn trust
- Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Executive Director of Cambridge's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk – The Asilomar Principles
Session 10. Wrap-up and next steps
This session focused on key opportunities and challenges presented by AI and the respective roles of industry self-regulation, policy interventions, multi-stakeholder co-operation, and international co-operation.
Chair: Wonki Min, Chair of OECD Committee on Digital Economy Policy (CDEP), Korea
Brief reports by session moderators: Kenneth Cukier, Andrew Wyckoff, Claire Jolly, Dominique Guellec, Anne Carblanc, Mark Keese, Katarina de Brisis, Wonki Min, Douglas Frantz
- Session 3 summary: Close-up on AI space applications
- Session 4 summary: AI in science
- Session 5 summary: AI policy landscape
- Session 8 summary: Safety, responsibility and liability
Stakeholder perspectives:
- Marc Rotenberg, representative of OECD Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC) and President, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
- Anna Byhovskaya, Policy Advisor, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC)
- Nicole Primmer, Senior Policy Director, Business at OECD (BIAC)
- Clara Neppel, Senior Director, IEEE European Office, Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) representative [presentation]