Secure AI system recommended for Swiss parliament

A committee wants a dedicated AI assistant in the Federal Parliament Keystone-SDA

Swiss politicians need secure artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help them do their work, a parliamentary security policy commitee recommends.

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AI assistants must be based on an open source language model, adapted to the needs of the legislative power, and connected to the relevant federal documentary databases.

They would also need to be hosted on sovereign Swiss infrastructures, in order to guarantee the confidentiality of exchanges and the independence of responses from foreign influences, according to the House of Representatives body.

A motion was passed by 15 votes to 9, with 1 abstention. While AI is making rapid progress and becoming an essential tool in many fields, it is also used by elected representatives, who use it to analyse texts, draft speeches or summarise documents.

While these tools are useful, they also raise a number of issues, according to the committee. Sensitive information may escape the Confederation’s secure framework and be exposed in the public arena.

In addition, responses may be influenced by models that incorporate biases or rationales that are not in Swiss interests. The committee also points to the structural dependence on technologies developed outside the Swiss institutional and legal framework.

That’s why Switzerland needs to offer a sovereign, high-performance alternative, the committee argues. And it talks about digital sovereignty, security and independence for the legislative institution. Several federal bodies are already exploring AI solutions tailored to their needs.

What is your opinion? Join the debate:

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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