Artificial intelligence can be more inclusive, safe and sustainable

“We have to invest more in research and science” and, to do so, we cannot ignore institutions, but adapt them to the technological era in which we live, said Fernando Alexandre, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, this Monday, at the end of the INESC TEC Autumn Forum. Before, we talked about artificial intelligence (AI) and everything that revolves around it. The topics included the challenges it imposes on society, the uncertainties and fears of its use, its sustainability and energy efficiency, more diverse and inclusive AI system models and the changes that AI can bring at different levels, whether in the world of work, in the political field or in education.

The conference, organized by INESC TEC and which had Expresso as media partnerfeatured interventions by João Claro, president of the board of directors of INESC TEC; Marzieh Fadaee, director of Cohere Labs; Gitta Kutyniok, professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and co-founder of the startup EcoLogic Computing; Arlindo Oliveira, president of INESC and professor at Instituto Superior Técnico; Sofia Miguens, professor of philosophy at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto; Mário Boto Ferreira, professor at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Lisbon; Mário Figueiredo, professor at Instituto Superior Técnico; José Carlos Príncipe, professor at the University of Florida; and Fernando Alexandre, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation.

Find out the main conclusions.

The impact of AI on society

• “Technology is the key to the future”, highlighted Gitta Kutyniok, mentioning how artificial intelligence will change society in the coming years. There are changes in the field of mobility, agriculture and communications, as well as in areas such as journalism or law. And, of course, “there is not a single area of ​​science that has not undergone changes,” he said.
• Mário Figueiredo believes that AI is not a new thing and that social networks, for example, have changed the way people interact with each other and with knowledge. In fact, he also said, it is on social networks that AI algorithms are most used.
• When it comes to teaching, the way students look for information has changed a lot since the pandemic. “Before, they worked more together”, notes José Carlos Príncipe.
• Sofia Miguens believes that AI is making us look at ourselves differently and that, from a political perspective, its role has become increasingly relevant.

Today’s challenges

• “The more voices are involved, the better AI will be for the world”, highlighted Marzieh Fadaee, who revealed a project that began three years ago and which aims to investigate and create multilingual artificial intelligence models so that they can respond based on data that includes different languages, contexts and cultural experiences. Thousands of researchers from around the world work together to make these systems more diverse and inclusive.
• Gitta Kutyniok spoke mainly about what still needs to be improved in AI models taking into account security, sustainability, energy efficiency and robustness. Neuromorphic computing [que simula o modelo de funcionamento do cérebro humano]biocomputing and quantum computing were three of the ideas he presented at the conference. The professor also mentioned that regulation in Europe is good, but that “we must take more risks” and “take AI forward”.
• Some of the participants, such as José Carlos Príncipe and Mário Figueiredo, recognized that it is necessary to change the way we teach and the mentality of students.

The future of teaching, science and innovation in Portugal

• According to the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, we must invest more in science and innovation and, above all, show society that this investment is worth making. To achieve this, “we have to better communicate what we do in science and innovation”, he stated.
• We are experiencing “a structural change in the economy”, which is now based on innovation, said Fernando Alexandre. We must, therefore, “improve the way we transform scientific results into innovation”, he believes.
• The minister also highlighted the importance of higher education in this context and took the opportunity to talk about the reform of education and the new Agency for Research and Innovation (AI2), which results from the merger between the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the National Innovation Agency (ANI).