· comment of the week
Omnibus, AI training and false moral panics
The recent leak of the European Commission’s “digital Omnibus proposal” has, predictably, thrown the privacy maximalist camp into a frenzy. No exaggerated hyperbole is beneath this crowd, with “biggest rollback of digital fundamental rights in EU history” being a very mild example. Never mind the details, when the “Holy GDPR” has been desecrated! However, this […]
CEE’s Innovation Crossroads: From Catch-Up to Creative Leadership
Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations have achieved remarkable economic convergence with Western Europe since joining the EU. The region’s two-decade sprint from post-socialist economies to the EU’s high-tech factory floor was breathtaking. But the growth model of being the “extended workbench” for Western industry is hitting a hard ceiling. The strategy of making things […]
The EU has another new plan for AI! Will it finally put us back in the global AI race? Here is our take.
The European Commission’s “Apply AI Strategy” was launched last week, aiming to boost Europe’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty. It’s a document with some solid, pragmatic ideas, but it also seems to sidestep the billion-euro questions and underlying systemic problems. Here’s a quick rundown: The Good (The Pragmatic Play) Smart Targeting: The strategy focuses on applying […]
Albania’s New Minister is a Machine
In a move that has the Balkans, and indeed the world, raising a collective eyebrow, Albania has appointed the world’s first-ever AI minister. Not a “minister for AI” – there are plenty of those around the globe. This one actually IS an AI. Named ‘Diella’, which fittingly means ‘sun’ in Albanian, this virtual minister is […]