Our recent Advocacy Seminar “What’s happening with AI?” took place at Microsoft Berlin on Mai 13, 2024, where over 30 Young Leaders from across the European continent discussed the impact of AI on various aspects of politics, economy and society:

Martin Hullin explained that while society is currently reacting to AI advancements by regulating, there is a need to focus more on societal aspects to harness AI for the common good. Greater knowledge and awareness among system designers, civil society, and programmers are essential. The ongoing regulatory arms race between regulation and innovation creates tension. To navigate this, building trust in AI technologies is crucial. Regulation alone is insufficient; capacity building is equally important for implementing protective measures.
In this context, Martin Hullin emphasized that the AI Act aims to ensure that AI respects citizen rights and public safety while fostering innovation and trust. It adopts a risk-based approach with stringent regulations for high-risk applications and bans certain uses, such as real-time biometric identification in public spaces.

Professor Oermann highlighted the threat AI-powered disinformation poses to election integrity, especially in 2024, a super election year with 33 executive and legislative elections worldwide. AI has already been used in various countries’ elections, with examples including deepfake videos and robocalls aimed at manipulating voter behaviour.
Professor Oermann emphasised that democratic elections rely on the free formation of opinions, which requires trustworthy information. Disinformation (e.g., deepfakes), malinformation (e.g., hate propaganda), and deceptive communication threaten this integrity. He highlighted industry initiatives like labelling and flagging on social media and the Munich Security Conference Tech Accord as well as political actions including the G7’s Hiroshima Process, the Council of Europe’s draft framework on AI and the EU’s Digital Services Act. Providers of information infrastructures play a crucial role in ensuring equal access to reliable information, a core value of democratic public discourse. Rather than focusing solely on market logic, they should prioritize effective, value-based R&D from the outset, Oermann concluded. He urged Stakeholders to establish and uphold an effective ethos for responsible AI R&D, ensuring it serves as a robust information infrastructure.
“Opportunities for the European economy in applying AI” by Harmen Zell, Public Policy Manager at Meta and Christoph Stephan Meister, Policy Experiences Lead at Meta.
The workshop showcased how Meta’s AI innovations and open research approach can significantly impact the European economy by democratizing access to advanced AI tools.
Meta, through its Facebook AI Research (FAIR) established in Paris, is at the forefront of advancing AI with a commitment to open research. The application of AI in Europe presents numerous opportunities across various sectors. Meta’s advancements in AI tools and platforms can drive innovation, enhance productivity, and foster economic growth across the continent. Recent innovations presented during the workshop included:
- LLAMA: The next generation of open source large language model, available for free for research and commercial use
- Seamless Expressive: An AI tool that translates recorded videos into other languages
- Segment Anything (SAM): An AI tool that precisely targets components in images, proving useful in fields like radio oncology and manufacturing.
- Smart Glasses with AI Capabilities: Featuring an integrated AI system that serves as an everyday AI companion.
AI Studio: An open-source platform for developing and fine-tuning AI tools. By making AI tools accessible and easy to use, Meta is helping to level the playing field, enabling smaller businesses and research institutions to leverage cutting edge technology for their benefit.
“Opportunities in Sustainable AI” by René Delbé, Climate Pact Lead at Microsoft and Alperen Can, IT Lead at Mercedes Benz AG.
Alperen Can presented the Green Machine project and demonstrated how intelligent Algorithms and data driven approaches can significantly enhance manufacturing efficiency and sustainability. As environmental awareness grows, the industry seeks sustainable ways to save energy. The project focuses on optimizing existing production plants through intelligent data analysis rather than purchasing new components, which can waste resources. By collecting comprehensive information about production plants, self-learning algorithms can automate optimizations. “Industry accounts for nearly 45% of electrical power. Enhancing efficiency and sustainability is crucial for companies, particularly in the manufacturing industry, where machine tools consume significant energy.” Alperen emphasized.
At the workshop’s conclusion, René Delbé introduced Microsoft’s Co-Pilot AI Assistant. This innovative app distinguishes itself by facilitating easy verification of answers through clearly indicated sources and citations. René Delbé underscored the critical importance of verification when utilizing AI tools. Additionally, the Co-Pilot app offers the capability to generate royalty-free images, highlighting its versatility and utility.
“Digital Sovereignty: A robust Strategy for Europe” by Professor Key Pousttchi, founder of the wi-mobile Institute for Digital Transformation.
Professor Pousttchi’s talk highlighted three major issues surrounding AI:
1. Understanding: There is a widespread desire for AI, but few truly understand it.
2. Truth: AI cannot determine truth; it operates on probabilistic models. For instance, while ChatGPT can describe calculations, it doesn’t understand them.
3. Policy: Many policy decisions about AI are made by individuals lacking deep technical understanding, often lawyers rather than mathematicians or programmers.
Pousttchi stressed the need for policymakers to understand inductive statistics and the complex, multidimensional nature of AI models. Without thorough evaluation and real knowledge, public discourse on AI often resorts to shortcuts and superficial statements, lacking serious in-depth analysis.
AI is redistributing power among individuals, companies, industries and world powers. The leading entities in data and usage, Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft as well as their Chinese counterparts – are set to dominate the AI landscape. The key to power lies in owning customer data, impacting everything from smartphones and cars to smart cities, homes, and future technological augmentations of the human body.
Pousttchi highlighted that Europe’s role has diminished from a player to a playing field. To regain influence and ensure European values are considered in shaping the future, Europe needs to make significant contributions. This requires substantial efforts, akin to the “airbus” task, to engage on an equal level in the global AI arena.
You can watch the full seminar on YouTube.
*We would like to thank Jennifer Pernau, Manager at Microsoft, and Felix Klein, Consultant at Vindelici Advisors for their contributions to the seminar. Jennifer Pernau was part of our Mentoring Proogramme 2023/24 and Felix Klein was part of our Mentoring Programme 2022/23. Jennifer and Felix are two active members of United Europe’s Young Leaders Advocacy Network.