Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met this morning, at Maximos Mansion, with the Co-Founder and CEO of Google Deepmind, Demis Hassabis, Google’s General Manager for Southeast Europe Peggy Antonakou, and other Google executives as part of an interministerial meeting on “The Future of Artificial Intelligence.”
During the meeting they discussed ways to deepen and broaden cooperation between the two sides, given that Greece has highly-skilled human capital in the field of artificial intelligence, has developed a very detailed strategy for the transition to the AI era and has the capacity to field test possible AI applications in important sectors, such as protection from natural disasters, education and healthcare.
They also stressed the importance of formulating a clear framework for the ethical use of artificial intelligence, as well as the right education for children in the age of AI.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister noted: “Well, Demis, it’s a real pleasure to welcome you and to have this discussion with some of our top Ministers. I just want to point out that we really value the relationship we’ve built with Google. We consider it a strategic partnership. We have already delivered on various fronts, infrastructure, culture, education, but the point of this discussion, the purpose of the discussion, is to leverage your global knowledge of artificial intelligence to identify new areas of cooperation, especially when it comes to the efficiency of the government.
This is a topic that is very dear to my heart. We see a huge potential in terms of streamlining government services, improving the interaction between government and citizens. We have already incorporated AI tools in our main portal, and it’s delivering very, very impressive results. And to also understand how you see the position of Greece in this new emerging AI landscape.
As you know, we have a very detailed strategy regarding the role and the position that Greece can play in the global artificial intelligence environment. There are certain verticals such as education and health care, where I think we can make tremendous progress and we can be at the forefront of innovation.
We have a very dynamic innovation ecosystem in Greece. We have an opportunity to talk to them tonight. And thank you also for agreeing to change the time of the event. You understand that at nine o’clock tonight, I don’t think, as fascinated as they are with artificial intelligence and with your presence, I doubt we would have a big following. But also to talk about areas I know that are dear to your heart, issues of concern, protection of children and minors, adolescents.
And of course the whole discussion regarding our public sphere and how we could envision using artificial intelligence to break down “silos” of polarisation and to have a more civic discourse, which is, of course, something that we should all be concerned as democratic nations, especially in light of horrible events that have taken place on the other side of the Atlantic.
I’ll stop here. Again, thank you so much for spending the time with our team”.
“There’s a huge opportunity for Greece to be at the forefront of maximising the potential of AI, leveraging its incredible start-up ecosystem and culture of innovation. Together, with the rest of Europe, Greece can also play an important role in shaping the responsible development and governance of AI globally, working in close partnership with allies such as the US and the UK.”, said Demis Hassabis, Co-Founder and CEO of Google DeepMind.
The meeting was attended, on behalf of the government, by Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports Sofia Zacharaki, Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of Labor and Social Security Niki Kerameus, Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou, Special Secretary of Foresight Strategy at the Presidency of the Greek Government Yannis Mastrogeorgiou, and Director of the Prime Minister’s Office for International Strategic Planning and Communication Aristotelia Peloni. Eugenia Bozou, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy, also participated on behalf of Google.
