WRR-Newsletter December 2021

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the combustion engine of the twenty-first century. The technology is currently moving out of the lab and into society, which raises the issue of its impact upon public values. In the publication Mission AI – The New System Technology, the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) offers a new perspective on this theme. AI can best be compared with the steam engine, electricity, the combustion engine and the computer.

Mission AI. The New System Technology

The automation, flexibilization and intensification of work will have significant consequences for people who still have jobs in the future as well as for the quality of their work. For this reason, good work for everyone should become a priority for companies, institutions, employer and trade union associations, and the government. Good work is essential for the quality of individual lives as well as for the economy and society more broadly.

Better Work: The Impact of Automation, Flexibilization and Intensification of Work

Often without our even noticing it, digital infrastructure is closely intertwined with processes that are essential to our society, economy, democracy and the rule of law. The government and other key actors are not adequately prepared for failures or a complete break-down of this infrastructure. In the publication Preparing for Digital Disruption, the WRR therefore recommends better preparation for what it refers to as ‘digital disruption’.

Preparing for Digital Disruption

It is crucial that organisations are prepared for different future scenarios for the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. This can prevent them from being caught off-guard and having to take important decisions on an ad-hoc basis. In this advice, the WRR and the KNAW outline five scenarios offering approaches for the development of a coherent policy strategy.

Navigating and anticipating in uncertain times

The European Union in the coming years must evolve on numerous fronts. The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the necessity of cooperation to address major challenges and has raised anew the question of how we should continue to build the Union. The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) has published this discussion paper to provide suggestions regarding the way forward.

WRR discussion paper: Strengthening EU Policy

In the Working Paper Human rights as benchmarks of artificial intelligence Ernst Hirsch Ballin examines how human administrative intelligence needs to develop in order to handle artificial intelligence according to the standards of a democratic community governed by the rule of law.

Human rights as benchmarks of artifcial intelligence

The European Union will have to offer more room for variation. That is the main thrust of ‘European Variation as a Key to Cooperation’, issued by the Scientific Council for Government Policy in the Netherlands (WRR). Enjoy a vivid discussion between council member Ernst Hirsch Berlin and Federico Fabbrini, professor of EU law at the School of Law and Government of Dublin City University and founding director of the Brexit Institute in Ireland. “Goals are to be shared, the means to reach them may vary.”

European Variations as a Key to Cooperation