The European regulation on AI

Social and technological innovation is crucial to respond to people's needs and move towards more inclusive and equitable local governments. Disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) open up new opportunities to improve the delivery of public services and the management of some of the most urgent urban challenges: sustainable mobility, energy transition, responsible use of water, or pollution reduction, among others. In the coming years, the growing adoption of AI will lead to a transformation of public administrations, which must be prepared to face the new challenges and risks associated with the extensive use of algorithmic systems. It is also necessary to take into account the double responsibility of local governments as "consumers" of technological solutions and "regulators" who must guarantee the appropriate framework for the development of ethical, safe AI that respects current legislation, is compatible with our social and cultural norms, and puts people at the center. 

In this sense, the AMB's Municipal Action Programme 2024-2027 identifies AI as one of the main focuses of the metropolitan policies of the future. Metropolitan cities must be prepared to adopt algorithm-based solutions and manage the risks that may arise from them, but they must also promote political measures that allow them to compete, attract and retain talent, in order to advance in the consolidation of the AMB as a digital metropolis. And all this must be done taking into account the regulatory environment in which they operate, which in the future will be conditioned by the recently approved EU AI Act, but also geopolitical trends on a global scale. 

This seminar seeks to contribute to this effort to prepare metropolitan cities and the AMB to successfully face the challenges associated with the adoption of AI through a double perspective. On the one hand, the implications of European regulation of AI for local governments and metropolitan areas will be analysed. On the other hand, a foresight exercise will be carried out where some scenarios will be identified that contemplate possible future impacts of AI in the medium and long term, from global prosperity to the catastrophic and existential risk of algorithmic systems. The aim is to reflect on how it could be ensured that the strategies and policy frameworks established today by the AMB are resilient and adaptive to the different potential directions that digital transformation could take.