At Rise of AI 2019 in Berlin, Andreas Steier, Member of the German Bundestag, argues that AI policy in Germany should build on existing technical standards rather than start from fear. A former automotive engineer who worked on sensor systems and neural networks before 'AI' became a marketing term, he describes joining the Bundestag in 2017 and becoming his party group's rapporteur for artificial intelligence, sitting on a Bundestag commission that works on an ethical framework for AI. He says the dominant reaction he meets outside Berlin is fear, often based on fiction rather than the reality of the technology, and argues Germany should extend standards already proven in the automotive, energy, industrial and health sectors into the digital age rather than treat AI as an unprecedented threat. Comparing Germany's position to the more entrepreneurial United States and a more centrally directed China, he argues Germany's advantage lies in engineering quality and functional safety, illustrated with a 2018 collision in the United States between a self-driving car and a cyclist, and proposes synthetic data as a way to test rare, safety-critical driving situations.
Key takeaways
- Steier worked on neural sensor systems for the automotive industry before 'artificial intelligence' became the marketing term for such technology.
- As his party's Bundestag rapporteur for AI, he sits on a Bundestag commission developing an ethical framework for artificial intelligence.
- He argues the main obstacle to AI acceptance outside Berlin is fear based on fictional depictions rather than the technology's reality.
- He proposes extending existing automotive, energy, industrial and health-sector safety standards into digital AI regulation rather than writing rules from scratch.
- He points to synthetic data as a way German companies can test rare, safety-critical situations for autonomous driving, citing a 2018 self-driving car collision with a cyclist in the United States.
Detailed notes
From automotive engineer to Bundestag AI rapporteur
Steier describes his earlier career as an engineer in the automotive industry, developing sensor systems in Luxembourg and internationally and holding patents on systems that used neural methods to distinguish people from other objects, at a time before 'artificial intelligence' was the term used to market such products. He entered the Bundestag in 2017, became a member of the Council for Research and Education, and serves as his party group's rapporteur for artificial intelligence, a role in which he sits on a Bundestag commission on AI working with technical experts, including former IT specialists now in the Bundestag, to develop an ethical framework.
Addressing public fear: separating fiction from reality
Steier says that when he discusses AI with people outside Berlin, the dominant reaction is fear, with many picturing cyborgs or scenarios drawn from fiction rather than the actual technology. He argues that AI should be treated as a development rather than a revolution, comparable to earlier new inventions, and that the political task is to keep people at the center of decisions while using existing regulatory structures already proven in the automotive, energy, industrial and health sectors, adapting them from analog standards into digital ones.
A German path: quality, synthetic data and functional safety
Comparing national approaches, Steier says the United States has stronger entrepreneurial dynamism for turning new knowledge into consumer products, while China, in his view, has a different ethical commitment in which the individual is more subordinated to the wider society. He argues Germany's competitive path is quality and functional safety, built on its established reputation in engineering and its Industrie 4.0 expertise. Citing the 2018 case of a self-driving car striking a cyclist in the United States, he argues that although most driving situations are not safety-critical, the rare critical ones must be systematically tested, and points to German companies developing synthetic data to model and test such extreme scenarios as part of a federal government master plan for AI and improved knowledge transfer into industry.
Quotes
Artificial intelligence is like any other new invention.
Andreas Steier
We have to distinguish between what is really real and what is fiction.
Andreas Steier
Questions answered in this talk
How does Andreas Steier think Germany should respond to public fear of AI?
According to Andreas Steier at Rise of AI 2019, Germany should help people separate fiction from reality about AI and extend regulatory standards already trusted in the automotive, energy, industrial and health sectors into digital-age AI rules, rather than treating AI as an unprecedented threat.
What role does synthetic data play in Steier's argument for autonomous vehicle safety?
According to Andreas Steier at Rise of AI 2019, synthetic data lets companies test rare, safety-critical driving situations, such as the kind involved in a 2018 collision between a self-driving car and a cyclist in the United States, that occur too infrequently to rely on real-world data alone.
What is Andreas Steier's role on AI policy in the German Bundestag?
According to Andreas Steier at Rise of AI 2019, he is his party group's rapporteur for artificial intelligence and a member of a Bundestag commission on AI that works with technical experts on an ethical framework for the technology.