To get the kind of human-centric AI that we want in the Netherlands, the public need to have an influence on it. This means that they need to have enough information to be able to make the right choices when using AI in their daily lives. They should also be involved actively in developing new AI applications so that they can say at an early stage what they think is desirable and what is not.
The ELSA concept
This presents us with the major challenge of ensuring that AI is applied within society in the correct ways. The social utilisation of AI in our daily lives is based on the ELSA concept. ELSA stands for Ethical, Legal and Societal Aspects. The focus theme of social dialogue – ‘Societal’ – embodies how important the dialogue about AI is within our society.
The position paper ‘ELSA Labs for Human-Centric Innovation in AI’ explains the background and the value of the ELSA concept for the desired joint approach, in which the general public also participate actively. It discusses experiences with the ELSA concept over the past twenty years as well as the practical risks and challenges if a rapid learning curve is to be achieved for deploying the ELSA concept.
Social dialogue
Increasing digitalisation and the associated use of AI have brought it sharply into focus for society, both positively and negatively – AI has long been a major part of our daily lives and will become even more so in the future. However, a large proportion of the Dutch population still know very little about AI and are not yet aware of the impact of applying AI in their daily lives. To prepare them as well as possible for a future with AI, it is important that the whole of the Netherlands should be involved and that the general level of knowledge and awareness about AI should be raised.
Approach
The NL AIC therefore explicitly wants to involve the public in a dialogue so that we can share experiences and ask the questions that will let us find answers together. This is how we are trying to raise AI awareness among residents of the country. The new understandings are being mapped out and appropriate parties brought into contact. It is important to learn from each other and to help residents of the Netherlands make independent and conscious choices about the application of AI. With this goal in mind, the NL AIC is going to start an interactive dialogue with a million members of the public through the AI Parade, aiming to accelerate the development of human-centric AI. The approach is as a co-creation of the Human-Centric AI and Culture and Media working groups, with the National Library of the Netherlands as an important partner.
More information
If you are interested and would like more information about the AI Parade, visit this page or contact Náhani Oosterwijk. If you would like to know more about the ELSA concept, you can take a look at this page.