PM Mitsotakis: Greece at the forefront of AI strategy

Greece has been at the forefront of developing a national strategy for a technology that genuinely has the potential to change everything, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday upon his arrival at the informal EU summit in Dublin.

“I want to express my satisfaction that we will be devoting a special European Council meeting to artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a tool that can be extremely valuable in improving public sector productivity. We have set a clear target: within the next three to four years, all Greek public sector employees should be familiar with the basic functions of AI,” Mitsotakis underlined.

“Another government priority will be to harness artificial intelligence to speed up and simplify public procurement procedures, while introducing significant transparency safeguards. This is an area where AI can genuinely help the country, generate savings and further improve transparency in public procurement. This is also an issue we want to add to the European agenda during our Presidency of the Council of the EU,” the prime minister stressed.

He also underlined that “we must remain fully aware that artificial intelligence raises a number of questions that need to be addressed. These range from its impact on the labour market and education to how we can integrate AI into our schools without undermining the need for children to develop critical thinking skills.

“All these are highly complex issues that require answers. This also calls for open dialogue with major artificial intelligence companies and leading digital platforms, something our country has demonstrated its willingness to engage in, introducing national legislation wherever it considers this necessary.”

Mitsotakis also referred to the measure banning children under the age of 15 in Greece from accessing social media.

“I want to remind you that, from 1 January 2027, Greece will be the only European country to enforce a ban on access to social media for children under 15, backed by specific legislative sanctions. This decision will require major platforms to comply with national legislation. We believe we are doing the right thing to protect our children’s mental health and shield them from addictive algorithms whose sole purpose is to exploit the vulnerability of children and teenagers in order to generate more revenue. This is unacceptable to the Greek government,” he said.

Concluding his remarks, the prime minister said: “We very much look forward to this discussion. It is important for Europe to develop a comprehensive European strategy on artificial intelligence. And I am absolutely certain that Greece will be at the forefront of this effort.”

amna.gr