Admittedly, the announcement of a new confinement once again altered the programme for the 3e Digital Sovereignty and Cybersecurity" national session, but without changing the fierce determination to continue exploring the cyber universe. The class therefore met remotely for a new and unprecedented sequence in which technology met ethics, strategy and philosophy, dealing with artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and quantum physics and their consequences for sovereignty.
After a general introduction to the problems associated with AI and an overview of the European Union's actions and work in this area by the head of the session, Army General (2S) Watin-Augouard, Professor Jean-Gabriel Ganascia drew the audience's attention to the ethical challenges of AI by tracing its history, its limits and its prospects, to emphasise at the end of the analysis the need to place the human being at the heart of the debates. Colonel Perrot looked at AI from a strategic point of view, studying its consequences for territories and populations, to see whether it could call into question the sovereignty of States.
This plunge into the future led us to reflect at the end of the seminar on two major elements of tomorrow where interaction with humans must be rethought: the robot and the quantum.
In an optimistic and innovative speech on technology, AI and the robot, Alain Bensoussan emphasised that while it was necessary to deal with the risks induced by technology, in particular through ethical and/or legal regulations, and to reflect on the degree of acceptability of risk, it was important not to put the brakes on innovation. Finally, Olivier Ezratty's presentation on the quantum computer emphasised that, even if its current capabilities are limited, quantum technology represents a real challenge for the future that needs to be addressed now.
The speakers in this series confirmed Rabelais' adage that "science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul". AI, robots and the quantum are an opportunity, provided that humans remain in control and deal with them now so that they do not become new threats to sovereignty.