See question(s) : E-004975/2021
EN
E-004975/2021
Answer given by Mr Breton on behalf of the European Commission
(17.1.2022)
1. The composition of the High-level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI HLEG) changed as members leaving the group were replaced from a reserve list. Whenever possible, similar profiles from a similar constituency were substituted. The final composition had 50 experts: 23 from industry, 17 from academia, and 10 from civil society and government agencies/public authority (6 + 4).
2. The selection criteria were: proven and relevant competence and experience in AI and its applications; for applicants in personal capacity, absence of circumstances that could give rise to a conflict of interest; for experts applying to represent a common interest, proven capacity to represent the position shared by stakeholders; for representatives of organisations, competence, experience and hierarchical level of the representatives; good knowledge of English. Experts applying in their personal capacity submitted declarations of their interests; these were scrutinised by the Commission to ensure that the second selection criterion was met.
3. The HLEG had two deliverables: AI ethics guidelines, and policy and investment recommendations. These covered a broad range of topics; even the first deliverable involved many aspects beyond ethics itself. Therefore, it was necessary to have a broad-based group with knowledge of the various aspects involved – research, development and deployment, data protection, business, legal and other societal perspectives. The Commission aimed to ensure that the group covered all the areas relevant to the two deliverables. As for businesses, the Commission needed companies of different types and sizes from different sectors. To ensure such a broad coverage, a sufficient number of companies had to be included in the
group.