Why the EU Lags behind in Artificial Intelligence, Science and Technology

It is not surprising that Europe, despite having a strong industrial base and leading AI research and talent, is dragging behind the US and China. European countries are lagging behind in artificial intelligence due to the fragmentation of the EU's research space and digital market, difficulties in attracting human capital and external investment, lack of commercial competitiveness and geopolitical inequalities. Reading the ESPAS Ideas Paper Series, the Future of AI and Big Data, one could enjoy its deep insights, see the Supplement, as well as the honesty of the report as to the EU AI state of affairs. It specifically reads: "The EU will lag behind in AI for some more time, because it has a more complicated task than others. On the other hand, with a resilient and free economy, a balanced regulatory system, an interested public, intact societies and world class research it will be well-placed in the medium term... Some experts believe that the advances in machine learning are plateauing and that AI will only develop slowly and incrementally from now on. Others see much more change coming, even revolutionary jumps like super intelligent AIs that are able to be employed in many fields at the same time... While many policy makers see the question of AGI as science fiction, huge investments are made into researching it. For example, DeepMind – developers of the Go-champion AI AlphaGo and bought by Google for 500 million USD – spends up to 200 million USD each year to come closer to that goal.OpenAI, funded with an Endowment of 1 billion USD, has the same goal. Since this research is not required to be transparent, it is likely that states such as the US, Chinese and probably others are also already working on such programmes. The biggest project by the European Union is the Human Brain Project, an effort to construct a virtual human brain, although this is not exactly the same as building an AGI... Imagine, in 20 years, there will be a super intelligent, friendly, conscious AI which is a source of pride to the world and fulfils all our wishes. Would this be a paternalistic world? The difficult question goes to the core of the human condition: What are we to do, if we are not needed anymore? What then is the purpose of humanity?"