New technologies and their applications are blurring the boundaries between human and machine, between online and offline activities, between the physical and the virtual world, and between the natural and the artificial. They raise some fundamental questions: what is human? What are the boundaries to be respected to preserve what we can define as human? What kind of society do we want for the future and how to prepare the cohabitation of humankind with intelligent machines? Citizens ought to take an active part in answering these fundamental questions and not be subject to corporate interests.
In the follow up to its Recommendation 2102 (2017) on “Technological convergence, artificial intelligence and human rights”, the Parliamentary Assembly should explore ways to reinforce individual capacity to engage in a wider reflection not only with the view to regulate the advancements of science and technology and their implementation, but more fundamentally to question – early on in the process – their essence, their direction and whether they are acceptable and beneficial to society as a whole.
Cultural and educational sectors – including artists, cultural activists, associations, cultural institutions and schools – have a key role to play in this context, by stimulating critical thinking and ethical analysis in this new technological era which will be so fundamental for citizens, and particularly young people, to address numerous challenges in the form of a continuous, open and informed debate.
Specific guidelines to assist and stimulate the culture and education sectors in this important task, should be developed, building on the Council of Europe acquis in these domains, and in particular the Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture.