The president of the Portuguese Digital Economy Association (ACEPI), Alexandre Nilo Fonseca, states, in statements to Lusa, that investing in artificial intelligence (AI) is an “opportunity” that should not be missed.

AI “has “There are many challenges that we obviously must take into account”from data protection, to the impact on education, health or even in a way that may not be correct, he says.

On the other hand, there is also the “issue of the use of artificial intelligence in business” and the way in which they accelerate the productivity of companies.

“We live in a global world in which the United States does not usually have restrictions as great as those that Europe usually has in this point of view of legislation and regulation, China even less so,” highlights the president of ACEPI, when asked about the application of the European regulations on AI (IA Act).

“I’m not saying that there’s no need to legislate,” now “I think we have to be careful not to create a barrier to innovation. and the development of artificial intelligence in Europe and, specifically here, in Portugal,” he highlights.

There are “areas that gain a lot from the possibility of having artificial intelligence in their favor: I am thinking about the area of ​​health, where We can increase and accelerate the diagnosis of areas such as cancer, heart attacks.“, he continues, since it allows large-scale analysis of certain types of exams “in which it is difficult for the human eye to detect certain types of variations.”

The machine “can verify, combine, extrapolate and take advantage of everything that artificial intelligence can offer to improve diagnosis,” he emphasizes, arguing that “those areas should not be blocked.”

However, “You have to be careful” with aspects such as privacy and data and “also be careful if we then get to a level where we do not advance as quickly as we should when two of our biggest global competitors, which are the United States and China, could hold Europe back,” he warns.

Now, “the use of artificial intelligence must be highly encouraged and promoted from a work point of view (…) because Increasing productivity is what will also accelerate the transformation of work.“Adds the person in charge.

Alexandre Nilo Fonseca admits that AI will cause breakage of some type of workbut “it will surely also improve the existence of another.”

Therefore, it is necessary to “create the conditions” so that the youngest people, who are in secondary and university education, learn “what artificial intelligence can offer them and use it appropriately.”

Because as in other situations, people can use technology to “commit crimes”, from phishing to ransomware (cyber attacks).

“Crime always exists, there are always people available to commit crimes and the tools that are available will be used as is the case with disinformation,” he says.

Now, “what we should not do is say that because this is possible, then we will delay its implementation. No. We have to (…) understand and perhaps have tools to combat these new types of crimes. Now, this should not stop us, especially since Europe is not in a position to delay anything at the moment in relation to the United States and China,” he insists.

In fact, “we are already very behind in many things, if there is something in which we cannot be behind, it is precisely in artificial intelligence,” he argues.

Portugal, “due to the particularity” of having a language spoken “by millions and millions and millions of people” – the growth of the population in Angola, in Mozambique, in particular in Brazil “will only increase the growth of the Portuguese “language”—you have to “have the ability to speak with those who produce the software and these tools so that they can work in Portuguese.

“Here there are a series of things that must be thought about and structured to have an artificial intelligence strategy that makes not only Portugal a winning country within Europe, but also Europe, essentially a winning region in the world. world,” he defends.

“I believe that artificial intelligence is an opportunity that, in fact, we should not waste,” concludes Alexandre Nilo Fonseca.

Portugal Digital Summit starts on October 23 with artificial intelligence as a theme

The Portuguese Digital Summit begins on October 23 with artificial intelligence (AI) as a theme and almost 150 speakers, the president of the Portuguese Association of Digital Economy (ACEPI) told Lusa.

The event, which this edition has a new location, the Technical Innovation Center, in Lisbon, “is today the largest initiative on the digital economy in Portugal and, in this sense, it was almost impossible not to talk about the topic of artificial intelligence. with the focus” on business, says Alexandre Nilo Fonseca.

That is, “how it is impacting business, regardless of the sector of activity, we are also talking about the interaction between the State and companies, companies and consumers, therefore, all this dynamic will be addressed by almost 150 speakers and moderators that we will have during these two days [23 e 24 de outubro]And it will be “the largest moment in which we will be able to listen to what is happening in Portugal,” adds the person in charge.

The Portuguese Digital Summit, whose central theme is “Artificial intelligence: economic growth and future of innovation”, will have three independent stages.

The ‘Leadership’ stage will be “focused on change and leadership in digital transformation”, that is, “on the change in organizational processes, on how technology influences those same processes and also, obviously, on the operations that we are witnessing in people, whether in how the equipment works, problems with teleworking,” he points out.

The ‘Disruption’ stage focuses more on innovation, “where we talk about emerging technologies and how these technologies will affect businesses,” continues Alexandre Nilo Fonseca, covering various sectors, from media to services and utilities. ‘. [serviços básicos]telecommunications and even justice and education.

AI, the Internet of Things, 5G and augmented reality, the interoperability of technologies are some of the highlighted topics.

In the ‘Master’ stage, the focus will be on operations, that is, “you need to know when you are going to put this all together”, how to attract consumers.

“And then, obviously, we talk about topics such as social networks, digital advertising,” among others.

“Our expectation is to have, as in previous years, around 2,000 people in person in the space” and then “we have a set of content that is available online, either through our own website or through partnerships that we have with media groups,” he details.

For example, “it is possible to follow our event on the Meo, NOS and Vodafone platforms on a dedicated channel” or in collaboration with Sapo.

There will not be a live broadcast of each scenario, but there will be “a live broadcast in high resolution in which people will be able, in the background, to see a ‘best of’ [melhor] about everything that is happening, with interviews,” says Alexandre Nilo Fonseca.

“There is a great opportunity for the coming years” and if, between 2025 and 2030, “we make a big commitment to artificial intelligence, whether from the perspective of training professionals, therefore, of the transformation of work, of the increase of productivity in Portugal can, in fact, generate a very substantial increase in GDP [produto interno bruto]”, he considers.

And this is “the point that we must put on the table here: it is the potential that companies and professionals have using” AI.

“The great challenge is for companies, especially the smallest ones, to accelerate the adoption of digital: we still see that, despite everything, we have a part of our business fabric, that is, the smallest, microenterprises, that still “They are in a phase of relatively low adoption of digital, given that the pandemic has greatly accelerated the use of digital by companies,” he says.

This year’s edition will have Spain as a guest country.

“Spain is a natural partner for Portugal, not only because we share borders here, but above all because we have a bilateral relationship, with more than 1,500 Spanish companies established in Portugal,” he highlights.

The edition will also be marked by the delivery of the ACEPI Navegantes XXI Awards, in which the lifetime achievement award will be presented.

In total there are “about 20 prizes and we will have the Internet shopping day at the end of the week”, the so-called Portuguese ‘Black Friday’, dedicated solely to companies.pt, which have a Portuguese ‘website’, adds the president of ACEPI, which will take place on October 25.

“Surely it will also be an opportunity to anticipate in a month what will happen at Christmas and Black Friday,” he concludes.

The event will be attended by the Minister of Youth and Modernization at the inauguration and the Secretary of State for Modernization at the awards dinner.