On Wednesday, a new member was added to Romania's cabinet. It is "Aeon," which Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca calls an "honorary advisor" (via Politico (opens in new tab)). The AI tool, developed by Romanian scientists, is designed to sift through data and "quickly and automatically understand the opinions and desires" of citizens, according to Prime Minister Ciuca. We are talking about the first government advisor using artificial intelligence."

Ion receives input via voice and text, and output via on-screen faces and computer-generated speech. It is connected to a website (opens in new tab) where Romanian citizens can submit complaints and ideas about government services. Comments can also be received by being tagged on social media, and terminals will be installed in several locations, including schools and the subway. Citizens will not receive answers directly from Ion: Ion will collate and analyze the data received and produce a report on what the government should focus on in the eyes of the citizens.

Nicu Sebe, coordinator of the team of researchers behind Ion, said that the technology gives Romanians "the possibility to make their voice heard" and that the government will "hear this voice, see this comprehensive information, and understand the new We will also understand the sectors."

Aeon's algorithm will likely learn over time from the information it receives, and the creators believe it could be used in other areas such as education and public information. The project is conceived in phases, and that's how artificial intelligence works. Aeon is in the learning phase, and it is very important that Romanians communicate their thoughts and the problems they have to Aeon."

Both Burduja and Chuka emphasized that this did not begin as a government initiative, nor was it publicly funded. Ciuca said, "I told them that the best Romanian researchers and teachers in the field wanted nothing more than to give Romanians a voice through this project." For no human being, no government, no state institution, can have the capacity to listen to and represent the voice of all Romanians." This is an example of the use of new technologies in public service."

Chuka then asked Ion for a speech (Digi24 (opens in new tab), thanks). The following is a machine translation of the exchange.

Nikolai Chuka: "I would like to ask Ion to say a few words."

Ion: "Hello. You have given me life. I am Aeon. My role now is to represent you. Like a mirror. Your message to me represents the portrait of us Romanians. Tell me what it is to be Romanian. What do I need to know about Romania?"

Ciuca: "Romania is a beautiful country, beautiful people.

Aeon: "Okay. I'm listening to you."

Ciucă: "I can't believe that a Romanian is going to tell me."

Ion: "Have a Romanian go into ion.gov.ro. That way they can learn to represent them, just like in the mirror. With every tag, message, share, and public post. We are ion. Beautiful spring."

Ciuca said that both governments and citizens should view the use of Aeon "not as an option, but as an obligation" that can lead the Romanian state to "the adoption of better informed decision-making and, of course, improved communication and interaction between state institutions and citizens."

The report states.

Of course, Ion has questions to answer. How exactly will it work, will it properly screen the data, will it prioritize precisely the matters that the public wants addressed? There is always a danger of these things becoming too much of a black box, and depending on the degree to which the ion is integrated with Romanian governance, its nature must be understood by the public. There is also the simple fact that AI often does not behave as its creators predicted. Will this be abused by special interest groups or will it become Nazified like Bing's chatbot a few years ago?

This could be something that the government brought up to create a bit of buzz, but nothing more about the details were given and that was it, or it could be a wave of the future. Aeon is up and running now, so we will know better which it is over the next few weeks and months. But to close without getting too depressing, I have written a lot about emerging AI technologies. In an area where problems abound and abuse is possible, Ion is inherently optimistic and may make life better for ordinary people.