Brussels/Frankfurt, 1 September 2021 – On the upcoming discussion on the AI regulation proposal in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, Prof Claus Oetter, Managing Director of VDMA Software and Digitalization, says:

"Artificial intelligence is an essential key technology for competitiveness and sustainability  of the European mechanical and plant engineering industry. Therefore, VDMA fully supports the EU Commission's plans to create a reliable EU legal framework for this important field of technology. This is the only way to prevent national fragmentation and at the same time to increase the broad acceptance of AI technologies.

However, the current  proposal classifies already regulated machinery products in the category of high-risk applications and thus puts them on the same risk level as AI systems for biometric identification and categorisation of natural persons or AI systems for law enforcement. This classification alone risks damaging the global reputation of European mechanical and plant engineering industry as a reliable technology partner and increasing scepticism towards the use of AI.

This also leads to unnecessary barriers and uncertainties that burden companies, AI researchers and ultimately Europe as a business location. Industrial AI, which is already covered by harmonised legal acts, must therefore be excluded from the new AI Act. It is much more important to focus on previously unregulated fields of application in order to protect European values.

Furthermore, the European Parliament and the Member States are called upon  to thoroughly examine and improve the  regulatory proposal and ensure that the AI Act will provide legal certainty and , above all, an innovation-friendly  framework for AI. The opportunities and possibilities of AI technology can only in this way be fully exploited for the European mechanical and plant engineering industry.”