The webinar “Ai.ethics – Towards a Future of Trust” launches the Recognition Application phase of the program.
On February 15th, the webinar titled “Towards a Trustworthy Future” took place, marking the beginning of the application phase for the Ai.ethics Recognition, which extends until the end of March.
The event featured the participation of Mário Parra da Silva, President of APEE – Portuguese Association of Business Ethics and Secretary-General of the United Nations Association – UNA Portugal, who introduced and presented the program, welcoming the over forty people who attended the online event. He contextualized Ai.ethics within the UNESCO Recommendation on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI), published in 2021, emphasizing the growing importance of AI and the need to build trust around it, both within organizations and in society at large. To achieve this, and to ensure Portugal does not miss out on the opportunities offered by AI systems, it is necessary to raise awareness in society about the importance of the ethical dimension and support organizations in implementing governance of these systems based on ethical principles.
The following panel included Gabriel Osório de Barros from the Office of Strategy and Studies of the Ministry of Economy and the Sea, Francesco Costigliola from Caixa Geral de Depósitos, and Paulo Novais from the University of Minho. Moderated by Mário Parra da Silva, the participants shared their valuable insights on AI and its potential benefits for people, the economy, and society as a whole, as well as the significant ethical concerns.
The diverse backgrounds and experiences of the three participants greatly enriched the spontaneously generated dialogue. From their different perspectives, the current state of AI in Portugal and its increasing integration into various areas were addressed. All agreed on the importance of the country not squandering this historic moment and being able to derive the greatest possible benefit from this technology. The dialogue focused primarily on the inherent ethical challenges, as well as the need for AI systems to be designed and used always with a perspective of collaboration with humans, under their supervision, and always oriented towards their well-being.
After the panel, Gonçalo Teixeira Diniz, Member of the Board of Directors and Project Manager of APEE, presented the Ai.ethics Recognition. He highlighted that this Recognition, in the form of a seal, aims to attest to the maturity in the governance of AI systems, considering dimensions of security, legal, and, primarily, ethical and sustainable aspects. The opening of applications for this Recognition represents a new stage in the Ai.ethics program, with the goal of promoting trust in AI among all stakeholders. Using images from the dedicated website for this program, he provided some explanations about the Recognition and the stages in which it takes place.
In addition to the wealth of content covered, this webinar indeed marked the beginning of the new phase of the Ai.ethics program, which aims to contribute to a “Future of Trust.”
Review the webinar here.