As security and transparency concerns with artificial intelligence (AI) are growing, Belgium is organising a series of panels to allow citizens to take part in shaping the policies of the future.
On the occasion of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the authorities randomly selected 60 citizens from across Belgium to take part in debates and survey them on their views on AI.
"It is a very unique experience to be able to take part in this panel," said Anja, one of the participants. "It is obviously very special to have been selected from a large number of Belgian residents invited. Quite simply, it is important to be able to participate and make our voices heard in a democracy. When you are given the chance to be heard, you have to take it."
The participants were selected at random from over 16,000 invitations sent out across Belgium. This way, the panel brings together all strata of the population in terms of age, gender, levels of education and other demographic criteria – ensuring that the discussions and recommendations reflect a wide range of perspectives and experiences rooted in people's lived experiences.
Dangers and opportunities
This initiative is the first of its kind for a European presidency, and underlines Belgium's commitment to an inclusive and participatory approach towards the formulation of European policies.
The debates took an in-depth look at the role of AI in society, as well as its potential dangers and opportunities. The EU presidency also invited around 20 experts from various fields to enlighten participants on the implications of AI in sectors such as defence, employment and health.
"I think the participants really enjoyed learning more about AI in an interactive way while also being able to share their opinions and concerns," said data scientist Alexander Deleeck. "Many people are talking about AI at home, but often without getting any answers. Here, there were experts to help them, but also, and most importantly, to listen to them."
AI citizens panel. Credit: Belgian Presidency
Politically, the expectations of these citizen panels are high as well, stressed Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Hadja Lahbib, who underlined the importance of the panel's results on a Belgian and European level.
"As far as artificial intelligence is concerned, it's clear that the technology is advancing very rapidly, and so the AI Act – even though it has already been adopted – may one day have to be adapted," said Bernard Quintin, Director General of European Affairs. "At that point, it would also be interesting to have the opinion of the citizens who are the primary users of this artificial intelligence ‒ users, consumers, players, sometimes victims, perhaps."
After this first panel, which took place at the end of February, the next sessions will take place on the weekends of 23-24 March and 20-21 April, and will enable the participants to define their vision about how AI is developing in Europe, and above to establish all what action they expect European players (political and private) to take.
