Brussels/Frankfurt, 19 February 2020

Europe wants to play the leading role in the development of artificial intelligence (AI). To achieve this, companies need legal certainty on the basis of consistent rules throughout Europe. "With the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, the EU Commission is sending out the right signals while at the same time leaving enough room for innovation," says Prof Claus Oetter, Managing Director Software and Digitisation at VDMA. In its White Paper, the Commission expresses concerns that AI is creating new security and liability problems. VDMA does not share this view for the machine industry: "Machines with AI are just as safe as those without AI. This is because they must meet all safety requirements in the same way," says Prof Oetter. In VDMA´s view, the current liability legislation is also appropriate and covers damage caused by automated systems.

VDMA generally supports the approach of the EU Commission to limit a future AI law to critical AI applications: "We are relieved that the Commission has resisted the temptation to lump all AI applications together. It makes a difference whether artificial intelligence recognises humans or machine parts," says Prof Oetter. It is now important to clearly define the criteria for high risk applications to provide legal clarity. "Almost all AI applications in the industry are completely non-critical. AI in mechanical engineering is therefore a safe bet for success with few risks but many opportunities. The innovation potential is enormous," says Prof Oetter.

Do you have any more questions? Kai Peters, EU Officer for Industry 4.0, Digitisation and Research, telephone +32 270 68219, kai.peters@vdma.org, will be happy to answer them.

The VDMA represents more than 3300 companies in the medium-sized mechanical and plant engineering sector. With a 1.3 million employees in Germany and a turnover of 232 billion euros (2018), the sector is the largest industrial employer and one of the leading German industrial sectors overall.

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