AI embodies the promise to release humans from repetitive tasks. However, it remains above all a tool that must be handled so that it becomes a bureaucratic increase factor.
Artificial intelligence (AI) embodies the promise to release humans from repetitive operations. However, no more than a tool, it can be just as well a means of simplification as a bureaucratic increase factor. Even if at the end of the summit for Action for AI organized by France on February 10 and 11, many companies and public institutions announce, week after week, their projects in this field, a paradox emerges: what was to lighten the processes could well, on the contrary, generate additional complexification, under the pretext of efficiency.
Obviously, the automation of repetitive tasks is inevitable. It is neither an opinion nor a moral choice: it is the natural evolution of technological progress. After the machines of the first industrial revolution and the boom in robots, artificial intelligence stands out as the logical extension of this dynamic, favored not only for economic imperatives but also by a strong political will, in France and elsewhere. Automation is moreover more an evolution than a revolution: it is above all a new opportunity to rethink the processes, gain the membership of the public concerned, without leaving anyone aside.
However, by dint of talking about technical issues-such as the availability of electronic chips, data storage, the quality of the data games, the use of open source, sovereignty, possible biases and hallucinations, to name a few, and of which it is in no way the object here to question their importance-it is crucial to recall that the real challenge of AI does not reside simply in the automation of AI Tasks, but in a deeper reflection on their necessity. The priority should not be to replace existing processes at all costs, but rather to reline their relevance, by reserving AI only for the automation of what is truly essential. Otherwise, we risk losing control of a tool designed to emancipate ourselves, but whose implementation could paradoxically increase our dependence.
While the United States, China and France has invested 248.9 billion, 95.1 billion, and $ 6.6 billion in AI between 2013 and 2022 respectively; While, within the framework of the France 2030 plan, France wants to make AI a priority by strengthening the national strategy launched in 2018, and provides for almost 2.5 billion euros in additional investments, choosing the AI to previously simplified operating processes could allow France to overcome budget shortage. Do less but better, slow down to better speed up.
This principle, which combines simplification and sobriety, would not only be beneficial on the budgetary level, but also on the ecological level, taking into account the environmental impact of technologies based on AI.
Sovereign, secure, ethical: these qualifiers multiply when it comes to describing the issues related to artificial intelligence. However, in this frantic race for innovation and automation, the promises of which are immense, it is essential to question the relevance and the need for each project. Let’s go quickly, of course, but let’s do well.
