Euroviews. Q&A: People will only use technology they trust, Microsoft expert says

The rise of artificial intelligence and its ever-increasing presence in our daily lives has sparked a plethora of debates.

Among those, the question of its governance has emerged as one of the most pressing issues of our time, with Brussels at the forefront of the race to regulate AI with its flagship AI Act.

However, regulation does not come without its own hurdles, and solutions are bound to determine the future of tech and Europe’s citizens alike.

At this year's International Artificial Intelligence Summit, organised by Euronews in Brussels on 8 November, Euroviews spoke to Jeremy Rollison, Head of EU Policy and European Government Affairs at Microsoft Europe, about many of the questions around European and global regulatory cooperation, and what it will mean in practice.

Euroviews: At the Brussels Tech Forum in 2018, you named AI as one of two emerging technologies that will have the biggest impact on people and their relationship with tech. How much more is yet to come?

Jeremy Rollison: At Microsoft, we’ve been working on AI for decades. It’s already built into many of our products, and our customers use it every day. 

But this year we saw AI accelerate more than ever and become mainstream with the advent of large language models and generative AI. The technology augments human abilities, and is changing everything about how we live, work and learn. 

We’re seeing AI aid the research of new medicines, find solutions for accelerating the decarbonising power grids, and enhance cybersecurity. 

We also see the technology driving economic growth by supporting the development of new products and services. 

So we really see AI as playing a key role in helping address some of society’s most pressing challenges.

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