7 November 2022, Paris – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean participated in the OECD Global Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence, held at OECD headquarters in Paris. On this occasion, PAM was represented by Hon. Abdelouahab Yagoubi (Algeria).
The event was the first international parliamentarians’ network on AI, organized by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, held in partnership with the European Parliament’s Forum for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) and the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS).
The gathering offered an opportunity for MPs to exchange, with their peers, information about concrete legislative initiatives, taken in parliaments from around the world. Legislators also engaged with OECD and other global experts on AI, in a high-level dialogue.
The program included a joint session with members of the OECD Working Group on AI (AIGO), Chairs of the Expert Group on AI (ONE.AI), a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder group that provides policy, and technical and business expert input to inform OECD recommendations.
Hon. Yagoubi stated the importance of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in addressing AI issues. The growing relevance of AI ensures increased comfort in people’s daily lives, with technological progress in various fields, such as energy efficiency and sustainable villages. On the other end, it can also be a synonym for invasion of privacy, discrimination, interference in electoral processes, and become an overall threat to democracy.
Hon. Yagoubi recognized that the spread of AI and the increasing automatization of tasks could have a direct impact on the lives of people, who may lose their jobs. He explained “this could lead to social emergencies. For this reason, there is a need for a solid and universally accepted legal framework governing AI. In this sense, parliamentarians should act as a bridge between citizens and governments to create a renewed climate of trust in this technology, and to foster an open and clear dialogue between institutions, the scientific community, and civil society.” He also drew attention to the fact that the scope of AI should be well defined and anticipate challenges in order to legislate effectively.
To conclude, Hon. Yagoubi, expressed PAM’s trust in this OECD initiative, allowing the dissemination of best practices and learning from experience.//