[Feature] Europe debates AI - but AI is already here

"AI has become a major sight of focus of interest, in the media and elsewhere," said Allan Dafoe, director of the governance of AI programme at the University of Oxford, at a hearing in the European Parliament. "Much of this interest is driven by hype and misunderstanding, but it is my belief that the critical insight that AI will be an important technology of this century is correct. In fact I would argue that how we build advanced AI will be the defining development of the 21st century," he added. It is clear that Europe is looking for a way to benefit from the advantages that AI can bring, but also that it will try to shape the development of AI to mitigate some of its possible negative effects. So why is AI such a prominently discussed topic all of a sudden?