On Wednesday, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca unveiled his “new honorary adviser”—an AI helper dubbed “ION” that he praised as the first of its type.
ION, which was created by Romanian researchers, will primarily be responsible for scanning social media to tell the government “in real time of Romanians’ requests and wants,” according to Ciuca.
The liberal minister referred to ION as “the first government adviser to deploy artificial intelligence” and said that the newest member of his entourage, a mirror-like structure with a beeping interface, was “an international first”.
“Hi, you gave me life and my role is now to represent you, like a mirror. What should I know about Romania?” ION’s calm voice said at the launch.
Using “data publicly available on social networks,” ION “will leverage technology and artificial intelligence to capture opinions in society,” according to a government document outlining the initiative.
On the project website, people in Romania will also be able to chat with ION.
“I have the conviction that the use of AI should not be an option but an obligation to make better-informed decisions,” Ciuca said.
One of the poorest countries in the EU is Romania, which is frequently referred to as Eastern Europe’s “Silicon Valley” because of its thriving start-up community.
Artificial intelligence (AI), which may be used to automate systems for greater performance and efficiency, is bringing about significant improvements in a variety of technological disciplines. AI is already being utilized in a variety of industries, from simply your smartphone to diagnosing illnesses, offering a high-performance and accurate system that operates with efficiency.