Europe’s AI Approach: Balancing Innovation, Security, and Rights

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In less than four years, artificial intelligence has moved from the margins to near ubiquity, reshaping how we live, work and play. Today’s AI models depend on vast volumes of data, intensive computational infrastructure and enormous inflows of capital. Optimists point to transformative benefits, while skeptics warn that the same innovations threaten human autonomy, dignity, security and rights. While the United States and China have prioritized speed and scale in AI development, the European Union has taken a more deliberate approach grounded in fundamental rights and risk management. This talk examines what a human-centric approach to AI governance means in a world driven by market competition and national security rivalries. It asks whether security and rights can be meaningfully balanced with innovation and who bears the costs when they cannot.