Dr. Ignasi Belda is the current director of the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence and is the founder of six international biotechnology companies. Parallel to these business activities, Belda has two PhDs, one in Artificial Intelligence applied to the life sciences and the other in Science and Technology Law, making him one of the leading authorities when talking about aspects related to ethics and the use of artificial intelligence.  

The event, organized jointly with ACCIÓ, the Clúster Digital de Catalunya and Enginyeria UPF, was moderated by the journalist Aurora Masip and attended by the Secretary for Digital Policy of the Government of Catalonia, Maria Galindo, who stressed the importance of the use of artificial intelligence being in line with the well-being of people and of the planet, a message in line with the values of UPF Engineering, represented by its motto “Engineering for people's well-being”.

After brief presentations by the president of the Digital Cluster, Joana Barbany, and by the vice-rector for Knowledge Transfer, Vanesa Daza, Ignasi Belda began his talk by acknowledging the titanic task of “making artificial intelligence be seen as an opportunity and not as a threat”.  According to Belda, AI involves “a paradigm shift only comparable to the industrial revolution”, highlighting its enormous potential to transform the world in which we live.

Belda also stressed the importance of the fact that Spain is the first European country to have created a specific agency to oversee the use of AI, making the State a leader in the regulation of this technology.

The event attracted more than 150 people, mostly business professionals, who attended to gain a better understanding of how the new European regulation on artificial intelligence, known as the AI Act, will affect them.

During his presentation, Belda insisted on one of the key values of the regulation: the guarantee of human supervision in the development and use of AI. The concept of “Human-in-the-Loop” is fundamental to ensure that there is always an individual who supervises the decisions made by technology, reaffirming that “from now on, a human can only be judged by another human”. In addition, the AI Act classifies AI applications according to their level of risk, regulating areas such as subliminal manipulation, the exploitation of minors, facial recognition and social scoring, among others.

During his presentation, Belda insisted on one of the key values of the regulation: the guarantee of human supervision in the development and use of AI. The concept of “Human-in-the-Loop” is fundamental to ensure that there is always an individual who supervises the decisions made by technology, reaffirming that “from now on, a human can only be judged by another human”. In addition, the AI Act classifies AI applications according to their level of risk, regulating areas such as subliminal manipulation, the exploitation of minors, facial recognition and social scoring, among others.

Following the presentation, two round tables were held. The first, moderated by Vladimir Estivill, UPF full professor of Engineering, focused on the academic and political perspectives of AI, with the participation of experts such as Andreas Theodorou (UPC), Carlos Castillo (UPF-ICREA) and Albert Sabater (UdG).  The second panel gathered representatives of the business sector, such as Nestlé, Schneider, Mediapro and Bové Montero i Associats, under the moderation of Xavier Serra, also a full professor at UPF Engineering. This session dealt with the uncertainties and challenges faced by SMEs especially when adopting AI in their organizations.

With a diverse and full audience of professionals from all sectors, the event proved an excellent opportunity to delve into the social, ethical and business implications of artificial intelligence and its future regulation.