Perko Matovic: Artificial Intelligence Must Be Developed Under Government Oversight

From October 8 to 10, participants are discussing digital sovereignty, as well as the development of national and global standards for the use of artificial intelligence.

Perko Matovic, State Secretary at Serbia’s Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, spoke to an IT Russia correspondent about the role of government in regulating artificial intelligence and the risks involved:

– We are living through a real industrial revolution. I truly believe that. There are both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to the development of artificial intelligence. The benefits are obvious and visible every day. However, it is important to preserve national sovereignty. And I think many countries can take Russia as an example, as it is doing a great deal in this area.

I believe artificial intelligence brings enormous benefits to people in their everyday lives. It drives economic and social development, improves healthcare and promotes social justice. However, we need a strong national government and laws that safeguard sovereignty. If we fail to do that, the disadvantages of AI development could outweigh the benefits.

We need legislation to address the shortcomings of artificial intelligence. In particular, its development could lead to unemployment and job cuts in traditional industries. Governments should help people find work in new fields related to AI. In addition, the uncontrolled use of such algorithms, including in the defense industry, could lead to tragedies.

We are already seeing a large number of problems in the West, where AI companies are becoming involved in the economy, while governments in many Western countries are losing their sovereignty by ceding it to major technology developers. We need to stop this by putting proper regulation in place. In Russia, we see examples of laws that uphold digital sovereignty, protect government interests and safeguard people. In China, legislation protects the jobs of doctors and teachers.

I believe we should insist on the development of digital diplomacy. Countries should come together and cooperate to develop appropriate legislation jointly. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has said that we must not allow artificial intelligence to replace human dignity and human creativity.

In the 21st century, we can see that this is one of the major challenges. In Serbia, we are trying to regulate and control it. We believe countries should work together rather than compete in a race to see who can develop superintelligence first. People need to move forward together, steadily and step by step.

I am absolutely convinced that artificial intelligence should be developed by government-owned companies, not private ones. And the government should oversee this process. From a security standpoint, these technologies must not be allowed to get out of control. In addition, we need to teach young people not to rely entirely on artificial intelligence and chatbots. Yes, AI should be a form of assistance, a tool, but it should not completely replace young people’s own abilities.