At its first meeting, held on 20 and 21 June in Madrid, the Council addressed the challenges in the development of AI in our country.

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International Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board

Meeting of the International Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council.Meeting of the International Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council.

The Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service has set up the International Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council, which brings together leading international experts on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation, to advise the Ministry on key aspects of the development and future of this technology, as well as the potential trends, challenges and opportunities involved.

The Council is being set up at a time when Spain is intensifying the boost to its capabilities, to develop ethical, human-centred and rights-oriented AI, as set out in the AI Strategy approved on 14 May. In addition, the first Council meeting also coincides with the launch of the activities of the Spanish AI Supervisory Agency (AESIA), which will play a key role in supervising high-risk AI systems and promoting the understanding and responsible use of this technology in Spanish society and economy, and whose director general was appointed last week.

At the Council meeting held in person in Madrid on 20-21 June, various issues related to the deployment of AI in Spain were debated and discussed in depth, including the role that the public sector should play in the development and deployment of Artificial Intelligence, analysing possible new forms of public-private collaboration. The different dimensions of AI in the context of political polarisation and risks for liberal democracies were also examined.

One of the working sessions was devoted to the importance of data used in AI models and systems, and in particular, how to combine the use of data with the protection of rights and privacy. Another focus of the meeting was the analysis of the risks, both macroeconomic in the labour market and technical, that AI may pose. The ultimate goal is to maximise the benefits of AI while minimising its potential uncertainties.

In addition, the members of the Council held a meeting with President Pedro Sánchez at the Moncloa Palace to discuss Spain’s strategic priorities in this area.

The members of the AI International Advisory Council are:

Manuel Castells, Chairman of the Board: Professor of Communication Technology and Society at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.
Paul S. Adler: Professor of Management and Organisation, Sociology and Environmental Studies at the University of Southern California and an expert in the theory of organisational structures.
Francesca Bria: Honorary Professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University of London and former President of the Italian National Innovation Fund. Expert in digital innovation and policy.
Vint Cerf: Considered the “father” of the Internet and recipient of multiple awards, including the National Medal of Technology and the Turing Award.
Kate Crawford: Principal Investigator at Microsoft Research and Research Professor at USC Annenberg, expert on the social and political implications of AI.
Jerome A. Feldman: Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley and a leader in Computer Engineering and Cognitive Science.

Luciano Floridi: Director of the Center for Digital Ethics and Professor in the Cognitive Science Program at Yale University. Expert on the ethics of artificial intelligence.
Jeroen van den Hoven: Professor of Ethics and Technology at Delft University of Technology and Scientific Director of the Delft Institute Design for Values.
Carissa Véliz: Associate Professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford, author of “Privacy is Power” (book of the year for The Economist).
Erika Staël Von Holstein: Executive Director of the Brussels-based independent think tank “Reimagining Europe” and expert on AI and political polarization.
Niklas Lundblad: Expert in technology policy and responsible technologies, and global manager at Google, with more than 20 years of experience in technology policy analysis and debate.
With this initiative, Spain reaffirms its commitment to the development of AI that promotes productivity in various economic sectors and addresses social and economic challenges ethically and responsibly.