The EU must adopt policies for the development, deployment and use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Europe in such a way as to ensure it works for, rather than against, society and social well-being, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) said in an own-initiative opinion on the societal impact of AI, identifying 11 areas that need to be addressed. "We need a human-in-command approach to AI, where machines remain machines and people retain control over these machines at all times," said rapporteur Catelijne Muller (NL – Workers' Group). She did not refer to technical control alone. "Humans can and should also be in command of if, when and how AI is used in our daily lives – what tasks we transfer to AI, how transparent it is, if it is to be an ethical player. After all, it is up to us to decide if we want certain jobs to be performed, care to be given or medical decisions to be made by AI, and if we want to accept AI that may jeopardise our safety, privacy or autonomy," Muller argued.