Greece establishes AI advisory committee to create national strategy

The Greek prime minister created an AI advisory committee comprising some of the country’s top tech, ethics and science professionals.

Greek Prime Minister Kryiakos Mitsotakis announced the establishment of an advisory committee to create a national strategy for artificial intelligence (AI) in Greece on Oct. 19.

The Greek government said the “exponential pace” of AI development has created the necessity for an advisory committee under the country’s prime minister. The object of the committee is to prepare Greece for the developments and applications of the technology.

Mitsotakis commented on the establishment of the commission, saying the reception of the technology must be organized before it becomes a daily reality. “This is not about the future but the present,” he said.

The commission will be led by Constantinos Daskalakis, a professor of computer science at MIT, and has professionals in related fields such as technology, ethics, law and science. It also includes Greek researchers and scientists, a part of the diaspora living outside of Greece.

Daskalakis commented on the initiative, saying:

“We will also work in a coordinated manner so that Greece can be a member of the international initiatives for Artificial Intelligence that are being developed within the framework of the International Organization of Artificial Intelligence.”

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A central component of the advisory committee will also be formulating policy recommendations and creating guidelines for a long-term national strategy.

According to the announcement, the AI strategy will include considering its impact on the economy and society, improving productivity, increasing innovation and strengthening local infrastructure, among other things.

Greece is among the 27 member states of the European Union that would be subject to the EU’s forthcoming EU AI Act. 

Earlier in October, EU officials announced that they are considering even more restrictive regulations for large AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s Llama 2.

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