ATHENS – “The initiative of the ‘Archimedes’ centre started as a thought and today is a real project which has guaranteed funding from the recovery fund in order to gather in Greece brilliant minds who work on this subject. I am also looking forward to this”, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday speaking at an event for the establishment of the research centre ‘Archimedes’ organized by ‘Greece 2021’ on the subject of artificial intelligence, data science and algorithms.

The prime minister stated, among others, that many of the issues that arise from the application of artificial intelligence already have direct implications in the field of philosophy and especially ethics.

“Artificial intelligence allows us to see connections where the mind cannot easily see and process. I will give three examples. Last summer we used an artificial intelligence algorithm so that we could do an entrance test in Greece with greater accuracy than if we had done it randomly. Consider the possibilities that exist in the field of tax revenue collection in order to make targeted audits. I imagine that there are tools of artificial intelligence to regulate the operation of traffic lights on the streets and to deal with traffic in Athens. There are too many fields”, underlined Mitsotakis.

The prime minister also said that he is looking forward to a dialogue with the leading scientists in the field on data issues related to the issues of democracy.

“The possibility of having an artificial intelligence centre that will gather the best minds in Greece, with secured funding, is an important asset for the country, a vision that is being put into practice and I can only be very satisfied and excited with the prospects that the new effort opens,” he added.

“In Greece we have an ecosystem of companies that develops products and applications for the global market. Greek jobs, Greek prospects for Greek graduates from our excellent universities”, Mitsotakis stated noting, among other things, that artificial intelligence can provide a solution to a problem that cannot be solved with classic tools.

The prime minister also referred to the possibility of such a centre to make its judgments in an objective and meritocratic way without interventions. “We want the quality of the work to be judged and your presence is a huge guarantee of meritocracy,” he stressed.