Today (28.6.23) State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman attended the Tel Aviv University "Cyber Week" Conference. The Comptroller, who also holds office as Vice-President of the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), revealed in his speech that his office would begin an audit of the State's readiness for the era of artificial intelligence (AI). The audit would be conducted in cooperation with additional bodies in Europe, such as the European Union Comptroller, and the state comptrollers of Great Britain, Germany and many other countries.
The audit will focus on three aspects concerning the Government's actions and its preparedness: coping with the risks of artificial intelligence from the technological aspect, promoting regulation and legislation, and implementation of artificial intelligence tools in public-state systems.
According to him, "Artificial intelligence may lead to wide-scale technological progress in many areas, but alongside this there are many risks, including "fake news", the use of AI by terrorist and criminal entities and the preparedness for the dramatic changes in the labor market. In the technological matter we shall examine whether the Government is ready for the innovative technology from the aspects of governance, computing capabilities, human capital and more; in the issue of regulation and legislation we shall examine how the Government protects its citizens and itself by restricting the use of AI technology which is liable to have negative effects and expose the public to dangers. The third aspect is the implementation of artificial intelligence into the public-state systems, within the framework of which we shall examine if and how artificial intelligence is imbedded in state systems – health, law, defense, education, etc.
As State Comptroller I attach supreme importance to the conduct of a comprehensive audit in the field of artificial intelligence and its risks. The audit world regards artificial intelligence risks as a central risk. The challenges involved in dealing with the matter are complex and they require, among other things, continuous cooperation between countries in order to optimally deal with the risks of artificial intelligence. Alongside the many advantages of artificial intelligence, it also embodies great dangers of empowering terrorist and criminal organizations.
It can undermine the foundations we rely on and impact humanity as a whole. It is essential for comptrollers from different countries to verify whether Western countries, including Israel, are prepared for the AI era. We at the Office of the State Comptroller are committed to continue giving this significant issue the utmost attention, for the benefit of Israeli citizens and the entire world."