Europe, Wake Up! It’s Time to Get Excited About AI’s Future.

By Maartje Schulz, Policy and Research Manager at ELF

Introduction

Travelling to the US earlier this year on a study trip on AI with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, I was struck by the tremendous excitement there around the potential of AI. This excitement came not only from the founders and CEOs of AI companies in San Francisco and in Silicon Valley, but from policymakers on both sides of the political spectrum. Despite their disparate party affiliations and professional backgrounds, they all seemed to be working together to make AI development a success in their country.

I would definitely not argue that the current situation in the US is a guiding light for Europe in every respect. Yet I do wish that my Europe could steal a bit of that appetite for risk-taking and unbridled experimentation and use it to forge a new European model of innovation – not least because our future competitiveness will depend in part on how well we do with advancing our digital economy. The unfortunate reality, however, is that we are lagging far behind the US and China in this area, as Draghi explains in his report.

But this is no reason for Europe to sit back in defeat or succumb to discouragement. We have the foundations, the tools, and the talent in Europe to improve our situation. We just need to get the mindset right first. That is why, in this Study – Designing Europe’s Future: AI as a Force of Good – we aim to articulate an optimistic, liberal vision for AI. The Study gives voice and provides solutions to the questions that are most pressing at this pivotal moment: how do we go beyond just focusing on AI regulation in Europe? How do we innovate in Europe and steer AI in the right direction so that it can benefit our societies? And how do we have guardrails around AI to protect our values and the way we live – without stifling innovation?

The first chapters in the Study dive into Europe’s approach to AI up to the present, reflecting on the EU AI Act from a liberal legal viewpoint and from outsider perspectives. They show that the AI Act, despite its admirable intentions, has introduced unclarity and high reporting burdens, which can make Europe less attractive to investors and innovators. Europe should therefore break away from the age-old ‘Brussels Effect’ and move towards something more inspiring: the ‘Brussels Innovation Effect’ – that is, from global rule setter to strategic technological leadership.

With the rise of AI, strategic autonomy will not be defined by market size or regulatory reach alone, but by mastery of such decisive levers of capability as compute, data, and talent. Rather than attempting to outpace private US firms at every turn or take refuge in protectionist defensiveness, Europe should concentrate on sectoral leadership and the intelligent diffusion of technology across society and the workforce. Even if we do not build it all ourselves, we can still try to be the best at diffusing this technology.  The present Study highlights numerous paths towards this end.

The second part of the Study focuses on how AI can be a force for good in European society. The restoration of Notre-Dame cathedral is a memorable case: AI was employed to generate a digital twin of the damaged structure, to inform reconstruction, and to facilitate data management.  AI can also be used as a supportive tool to increase our productivity, to enable better decision-making, and simplifying routine tasks. In the classroom, in the workplace, and in health services , we need to integrate AI smartly to improve our human experience – not to replace or diminish it.

Let us also build more thriving ecosystems: universities that work with start-ups and with venture capital that is ready to invest and with the support of (local) government. Silicon Valley provides an example, but we can also learn from the Dutch ‘Triple Helix’ innovation model where the private sector, government, and academia work together to develop new solutions for society.

AI is a challenge: it inspires both fear and hope. It is up to us liberals to own the future and steer AI into the direction of positivity, prosperity, and inspiration.