Romania sets up AI Scientific and Ethics Council

Romania has, as of Wednesday, May 24, a consultative Scientific and Ethics Council in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization (MCID) announced. According to the same source, the newly established council brings together renowned specialists "who can offer their expertise for the benefit of the government, for the development of the field of AI in Romania."

Half of the council members are women, while about a third are from the diaspora, the ministry also said. From senior researchers and founders of top institutions abroad to researchers with developing careers, they bring a diverse experience in AI research and development to the group.

Research minister Sebastian Burduja said: "We have specialists in the Romanian diaspora from universities such as Stanford, UC Berkley, Cambridge, as well as from Romanian universities, involved in research at the highest level. The main focus is on the academic and research area, and we intend to grow this Council with members of the business community from the research field."

He added: "We will continue operationalizing the other structures approved in previous weeks, such as the AI Education Council and the AI Committee, we continue the collaboration with the Presidential Administration for the realization of Romania's AI strategy."

The Scientific and Ethics Council in AI is set to advise the government and national authorities on the responsible and ethical use of AI. It works closely with the other recently created structures, such as the Interinstitutional Commission for the elaboration of Romania's AI strategy, with the Romanian Hub for Artificial Intelligence, as well as with the other structures of the Romanian Artificial Intelligence Committee.

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