Dear Reader,

The edition of the ECA Journal with as theme ‘The EU’s digital transition and AI’ has been published and is available on our website by clicking here.

If you are teleworking today, you might well have cause to reflect on the extent to which our working environment has become digitalised. During the last decade, the EU’s digital transition has made enormous progress. This progress is continuing even now, fed not least by a thriving phenomenon that we are often exposed to, even when we are not aware of it: artificial intelligence (AI). AI has come to have an inescapable influence on various aspects of our working life: from providing data to prompt formulation, from using chatbots to economising on energy consumption, its reach is already huge.

Digitalisation and AI are changing our lives at un precedented speed, and policymakers and regulators are scrambling to catch up. What is the EU doing to enable and secure digital and AI tools for European citizens and businesses? How is our data protected against misuse, and how well is the EU doing in turning its AI ambitions into reality? How are auditors getting to grips with the possibilities and risks that AI presents, and how might it affect their work? What does AI mean for businesses on the ground, in areas ranging from space exploration to access to justice? How do Europe’s AI policies reconcile the goals of autonomy and independence?

This edition of the ECA Journal contains interviews with experts ranging from European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen to representatives of big tech. We’ll hear from Michael McNamara MEP, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on AI, and external auditors charged with introducing AI to their organisation. This edition also features articles from figures from academia: Professor Raluca Csernatoni addresses the impact of AI on knowledge systems in the EU, and Professor Reijer Passchier highlights the risks posed by AI to the EU’s liberal democracies. The European Data Protection Supervisor’s contribution focuses on his role in connection with AI developments. Various AI practitioners, ranging from authors on AI to experts from consulting firms, provide their own perspectives, and several external auditors share their experience of AI ambitions meeting reality. This reality is changing rapidly, with AI enabling progress in almost every policy area the EU engages in, from defence to agriculture to healthcare.

We hope you enjoy reading it!

Kind regards,

Gaston Moonen

______________________________ European Court of Auditors Directorate of the Presidency [email protected] eca.europa.eu Follow us on