On October 7, as Israel began its latest war on Gaza following Hamas's incursion into southern Israel, the European Union's position was immediately clear. "Israel has a right to defend itself – today and in the days to come," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X, alongside an image of her office's headquarters lit up with Israel's flag. "The European Union stands with Israel." Israel has since been placed on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague and its leaders – as well as a top Hamas commander – have been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Yet the EU continues to partner with Israeli institutions under its "Horizon" scheme, a programme that funds research and innovation.

AI-Mind, a 5-year project funded by Horizon 2020, with the goal of facilitating a paradigm shift in clinical practice, started on March 1, 2021. AI-Mind will create intelligent digital tools for screening of brain connectivity and dementia risk estimation in people affected by mild cognitive impairment. During its lifecycle, two new artificial intelligence-based digital tools will be developed by AI-Mind. The AI-Mind Connector will identify dysfunctional brain networks, and the AI-Mind Predictor will assess dementia risk using data from the Connector, advanced cognitive tests, and genetic biomarkers. These two tools will be integrated into an intelligent diagnostics platform to identify both brain network disturbances and dementia risk, creating personalized patient reports for further intervention recommendations.

The manufacturing industry is the backbone of the European economy, accounting for around 20 % of the EU's GDP. AI and advanced robotics are opening new horizons in all sectors of industry, developing novel manufacturing techniques as well as reimagining the interaction between human workers and automated tools. This new Results Pack presents the results of 14 innovative Horizon 2020 projects that are reshaping AI and industry. As economies aim for sustained post-COVID recoveries, industry needs to innovate in a way that is in line with the priorities of the European Commission, in particular those laid out by the European Green Deal, a Europe Fit for the Digital Age and an Economy that Works for People. Industry 5.0 provides a coherent vision for such a future industry, focused on human centricity, sustainability and resilience.

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements No 826078 (R.R., J.M., N.K.W., J.B.) and No 777111 (T.K., J.B.). M.Z. received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant no. K.V.S. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant TranSYS (grant no. This publication reflects only the authors' view, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. J.B., T.K., M.L. and Z.L. were supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the e:Med framework (J.B., T.K., M.L. and Z.L.: grant no.

Apply for a position in our exciting research on "Materials for Neuromorphic Circuits" (MANIC), and become part of the next generation of neuromorphic experts! Funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN Programme, the MANIC network offers 15 high level fellowships for joint research on new materials for cognitive applications. The most talented and motivated students will be selected for advanced multidisciplinary research training, preferably starting July 2020. The scientific aim of MANIC is to synthesize materials that can function as networks of neurons and synapses by integrating conductivity, plasticity and self-organization. Successes in deep learning show that the paradigm of neuromorphic computing is very attractive.

Despite its commitment to'trustworthy' artificial intelligence, the EU is bankrolling AI projects that are questionable, write Fieke Jansen and Daniel Leufer. Fieke Jansen is a PhD candidate at the Data Justice Lab and Mozilla Foundation Fellow 2019-2020. Daniel Leufer, PhD, is a Mozilla Foundation Fellow 2019-2020 hosted by Access Now and member of the Working Group on Philosophy of Technology at KU Leuven, Belgium. Discussions on the negative impact of Artificial Intelligence in society include horror stories plucked from either China's high-tech surveillance state and its use of the controversial social credit system, or from the US and its use of recidivism algorithms and predictive policing. Typically, Europe is excluded from these stories, due to the perception that EU citizens are protected from such AI-fueled nightmares through the legal protection offered by the GDPR, or because there is simply no horror-inducing AI deployed across the continent. In contrast to this perception, journalists and NGOs have shown that imperfect and ethically questionable AI systems such as facial recognition, fraud detection and smart (a.k.a surveillance) cities, are also in use across Europe.

Speech is one of the most defining qualities of human beings. But for the 80 million adults and children in Europe living with speech impairments, according to figures from the Council of the European Union, even basic communication can be a challenge. Extensive European Commission studies have shown that such impairments can have major negative emotional and social impacts and can also get in the way of parents', teachers', and medical practitioners' ability to provide effective care. But Israeli research, backed by the EU's Horizon 2020 programme, is helping Europe's speech-impaired find their voice. "Mainstream speech recognition is developed with only'normal' speech in mind," says Danny Weissberg, CEO of Israeli startup Voiceitt.

The Digital Single strategy of the European Commission sets out to "open up digital opportunities for people and business and enhance Europe's position as a world leader in the digital economy."(1) This article will briefly examine a part of that by looking at the work of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (Unit A.1). We know that the Unit sets out to push forward the development of a competitive industry in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) throughout Europe. Certainly, this includes industrial and service robots plus the growing field of autonomous systems from drones and driverless vehicles to computing and cognitive vision. Also, the Unit encourages the wide uptake and best use of robotics and AI in all societal and industrial fields.

Machine learning, used within Learning Analytics, gives us new insights into education processes. Modern AI can predict student behavior and by doing so improve the entire education landscape. In November, with a successful review meeting, we finished our latest Horizon 2020 research and innovation project ENVISAGE that kept our attention for the last two years. The idea behind the project was to use machine learning, developed for digital games, to make the educational processes in schools and universities more efficient for students and teachers. The education landscape is changing.

Why is AI important for Europe? As electricity did in the past, AI is transforming our world. AI is at our fingertips, when we translate texts online or use a mobile app to find the best way to go to our next destination. At home, a smart thermostat can reduce energy bills by up to 25% by analysing the habits of the people who live in the house and adjusting the temperature accordingly. In healthcare, algorithms can help dermatologists make better diagnoses: by detecting, for example, 95% of skin cancers by learning from large sets of medical images.