https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181205134108.htm

In addition to documenting the complete Barcelona Declaration, the paper examines the rationale behind it, focuses on safety, reliability, and ethics issues and evaluates progress on its key recommendations. Sponsored by the Biocat and l'Obra Social la Caixa, with support from ICREA, the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, and the Institut d'Investigacio en Intelligencia Artificial, B-Debate assembled top experts in Europe to discuss strategies to deal with AI risks and benefits. The event was unique because of the participation of European developers and researchers in discourse that had been previously dominated by US and UK social scientists, legal experts, and business consultancy firms. The Barcelona Declaration was signed by most of the participants and is accessible for signature and discussion on the web.

"Given the widespread interest in AI and the eagerness to develop applications that affect people in their daily lives, it is important that the research and application development community engages in open discussions to avoid unrealistic expectations, unintended consequences, and usage that causes negative side effects or human suffering," said Luc Steels, PhD, ICREA Research Professor, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) -- IBE (UPF/CSIC), Barcelona, who with his co-investigator Ramon Lopez de Mantaras, PhD, Research Professor of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Director of the Instituto de Investigación en Inteligencia Artificial (IIIA) -- CSIC, Bellaterra, Barcelona, organized the Barcelona event.