Is France at the forefront? The AI Commission's report sets the tone

March 13, 2024: The Artificial Intelligence Commission publishes a report titled "AI: Our Ambition for France". This document outlines the economic, social, and ecological perspectives envisioned for French AI. How did the experts who contributed to this report approach the transformations of our societies through the lens of AI? How do they plan to position France at the forefront of technology?

A 10 Billion Euro Annual Investment Fund

2023: The arrival of generative AI developed by large American companies prompted French and European authorities to take a closer look. To avoid missing out on economic benefits, the experts recommend establishing a French and sovereign AI. The economic objective? Generate growth stemming from productivity and creativity. From a geopolitical perspective, this would secure the entire equipment process, especially the computing power needed for AI and semiconductor manufacturing.

This would begin with investments in French AI companies or the development of AI projects within companies. A budget of 5 billion euros per year would be dedicated to company financing and AI training. Tax credits would encourage companies to host their data on nearby data centers. The experts also plan to create a 10 billion euro France AI investment fund, seven-tenths of which would come from major companies like Google, Meta, and Mistral AI. These companies also contributed to the drafting of this report.

To ensure that the value of innovations resulting from artificial intelligence is equitably distributed, awareness initiatives supported by the Digital Advisory Commission are currently underway across France. Funds would also be allocated to enhance public training on these technologies. Collective ownership would help raise awareness of use cases, foster social dialogue, and provide legal recourse to challenge algorithmic decisions.

Laws and Regulators to Address AI Decisions

Indeed, the experts invite social partners to establish a "national interprofessional agreement on digital and AI". This would result from discussions about the presence of an AI system in employees' lives. In recruitment or dismissal processes, if the final decisions are made by AI, the affected person has the right to be informed. Internationally, the experts advise making the working conditions of subcontractors handling software, moderation, and AI training transparent.

Following the adoption of the AI Act promoting transparency regarding how data is collected, processed, and stored, the experts foresee the involvement of a third party or an entity such as an organization combining private and public bodies. This would strengthen transparency and oversight of AI project activities. Artists would have their intellectual property rights respected. They would benefit from a right to withdraw works used to train AIs. Manufacturers would have to specify the conditions for reclaiming them.

A French AI in Service of the Energy and Ecological Transition

In the face of climate challenges, AIs could, in the long term, offset their own carbon emissions by encouraging green innovations. According to the report, microelectronics are becoming increasingly resource-efficient. As for the engineers responsible for training the AIs, they design models powered by renewable energy. The next step is to assess the environmental impact of these technologies used by hundreds of millions of people.

It is certain that the cost of each query will be a central field of competition around AI systems. In this regard, specialized models today consume less energy than general-purpose models, and many avenues are being explored, whether to improve models, find new architectures, or new models. Increasing transparency on the energy impact of AI models would allow users to make informed choices and consider beyond economic incentives.

References:

• Le Monde: A plan of action to place France at the forefront of AI
• Artificial Intelligence Commission - AI: OUR AMBITION FOR FRANCE

[Cover photo from the report]

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