Lagarde: Europe Must Act Faster in Implementing Artificial Intelligence

Bratislava, 25 November (TASR) - Europe must act more rapidly in implementing artificial intelligence (AI), as it's likely to become a general-purpose technology that will accelerate productivity even faster than electricity or personal computers, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde stated in her address at a high-level summit on AI during the BratislavAI Forum at Bratislava Castle on Monday (24 November). TASR has learnt this information from the Slovak central bank (NBS) communications department. Lagarde warned that Europe can't afford to miss the next digital wave. The rapid implementation of AI within the economy while building dedicated digital infrastructure, including data centres, must be a priority. However, if old problems such as fragmented capital markets or high energy prices still persist, the expansion of AI will slow down, said the ECB president. On Monday, Lagarde also met NBS governor Peter Kazimir, who stressed that the risk of AI isn't in that it will fail to deliver growth, but that only a very narrow a group of people will profit from it. "Our urgent task is to invest in skills and education massively right now so that this revolution will become a path to shared, inclusive prosperity, rather than prosperity just for a select few," warned Kazimir. According to the NBS communications department, the discussion with members of the NBS Bank Bard and its experts revolved around how a smaller central bank can operate within the eurosystem, as well as how NBS will approach financial literacy and inclusion during a period of rapid innovation and the rise of AI. The BratislavAI Forum has been organised by the Education Ministry in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It's brought together leaders from the UN, OECD, UNESCO, government, technology companies and academia. NBS is a partner of the event. jrg/df