European Commission white paper on artificial intelligence: our response

Our shared values

AI offers many opportunities – for how we live our lives, our economy, our public services and society – that we need to harness thoughtfully and sensitively. As mentioned in this White Paper, used for good, AI can contribute to tackling the Climate Emergency^[2], and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals – in Scotland, in the EU and globally. In addition, the role of AI has been and continues to be critical in the global response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Scottish Government has therefore committed to developing an AI strategy for Scotland.

The strategy will be aligned with our National Performance Framework^[3], which sets out the kind of Scotland we want to see and aims to give equal importance to economic, environmental and social progress – opportunities for all, increased wellbeing, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and reduced inequalities. We were proud to host the Wellbeing Governments Group^[4] in 2019 with the Commission and others, and will continue to take a leadership role.

Our AI strategy will be published in 2021 and outline what Scotland needs to do over the next five years in order to realise the potential of AI, and create the right ecosystem for people in Scotland to benefit from the adoption of AI as a trusted, responsible and ethical tool.

We therefore wholeheartedly agree with President von der Leyen's statement that AI must serve people^[5], and support the Commission in its mission to ensure that AI is trustworthy, respects fundamental rights and does not cause harm. We share the Commission's vision of an ecosystem of trust as outlined in the White Paper, and would welcome a dialogue with the Commission to share insights from our respective engagements with citizens and organisations on how to achieve this vision.