Day: March 22, 2024

Panel

• Cecilia Malmström, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
• Eva Maydell, Member, European Parliament; Rapporteur for the European Union’s AI Act
• Joshua P. Meltzer, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development Program, Brookings Institution

Key points

• AI has the potential to optimize supply chains, analyze shipping routes, forecast demand, and enhance risk assessment and fraud detection.
• AI could potentially offer better market intelligence to help businesses make better-informed decisions and improve forecasting accuracy.
• AI could reduce barriers to trade in services and technical barriers of trade (TBT) and empower small and medium-sized enterprises (e.g., translation services)
• While trade in goods has peaked, services trade continues to grow substantially, even during COVID-19, with digital services and professional services being the main drivers. AI could further facilitate the expansion of service trade.
• AI is already affecting the nature of jobs and the services trade.
• Policymakers need to focus on creating an environment that supports the development and deployment of AI, particularly by balancing the need to provide regulatory guardrails and the need to encourage business innovation.
• AI regulation is currently fragmented worldwide. However, there is significant potential for establishing international standards and regulatory coherence, offering a common approach to regulating AI.
• Building more societal trust among the business community, policymakers, and civil society is necessary to address concerns about AI and related challenges.

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