EU Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho has opened an inquiry into how artificial intelligence is used by external experts who evaluate applications for EU funding, focusing on whether enough safeguards are in place.
The inquiry follows a complaint from a Polish company about the evaluation of its bid for support under the Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator programme, a scheme that backs start-ups and small firms developing innovative technologies, according to a statement by the office of the European Ombudsman issued on Friday.
The company alleged that external experts assessing its proposal for the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency had used third-party AI systems in a way that made the evaluation unfair.
Documents and safeguards under review
Anjinho has asked the European Commission and the agency, known as EISMEA, a series of questions about how AI is handled in the evaluation process, the Ombudsman said.
Those questions cover what rules apply to expert evaluators using AI, how the Commission and EISMEA assess the risks and opportunities of evaluators using third-party AI tools, and whether evaluators must disclose when they have used AI, according to the statement.
As part of the inquiry, the Ombudswoman plans to inspect documents that the Commission and EISMEA may hold on the use of AI by external experts, the European Ombudsman said.
