Hungarian government presents artificial intelligence strategy

Hungary intends to harness the possibilities inherent in technological change and maximise the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence (AI), the minister of innovation and technology said on Tuesday, presenting Hungary’s AI strategy at the University of Debrecen.

The strategy prepared with the involvement of over 250 member organisations of Hungary’s AI Coalition and over a thousand experts identifies focus areas and highlighted projects, László Palkovics said.

Hungarian society and the economy need to be prepared on the basis of the strategy because “this technology is already here and we should try to use it”, he added.

He highlighted Hungary’s participation in the development of self-driving vehicles, saying that the country has already achieved much in this area, including the construction of a test track, launching educational-research programmes and setting up a research hub.

Among the areas that “simplify our everyday life”, he cited administrative tasks taken over by robot-like AI technology in post offices, government offices and bank customer services. AI is already also being used, for instance, to control irrigation in agriculture, he added.