Hungarian researchers collaborate to summarise the impact of artificial intelligence

“The book has pooled extremely valuable Hungarian intellectual capital in the field of artificial intelligence, the result being not merely the sum of individual efforts“, emphasised Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Zoltán Kovács, editor of the collection entitled A comprehensive study of the impact of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies This thought-provoking volume covers 18 topics currently impacted by artificial intelligence, from education to health, finance and labour, from energy to human cooperation, legal and military aspects. In addition to 13 researchers from the Corvinus University of Budapest and the authors from KNBSZ, there are also papers from the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, the National University of Public Service, the John von Neumann University, the University of Szeged and the Széchenyi István University. 

“The professional side is still characterised by a hyper-optimistic drive for innovation, often trying to keep the ethical-ethical challenges at bay with superficial sham solutions (guidelines, codes of ethics, ethics committees and a weightless mix of loose organisations). The academic world, on the other hand, also believes in the manageability of the problems that arise with naive optimism, and regularly persists in a meticulous examination of the problems inherent in the technological details“, reads, for example, an essay in the book by Csáki Csaba, researcher of the Corvinus University of Budapest on the systematic assessment of the risks of AI. It is precisely this scrutiny of detail that the book seeks to transcend by taking a holistic approach to AI, by providing a systematic overview of the impact of AI. 

“Only quality mattered” 

The aim of this publication is to help society, professionals and policy makers to recognise the fundamental and rapid changes that are coming as a result of the development of artificial intelligence. It was found that although the literature is rich, it is not well known, and the importance of AI is often grossly underestimated and often only isolated effects are considered. “When I saw the rapid and massive spread of AI, I couldn’t just sit back. I wanted to make it visible to others, especially to those in the public administration, the legal field, which are slower to react because of the nature of their work.” According to Zoltán Kovács, the impact of artificial intelligence is not just a military or security issue, but an area that should be examined in a comprehensive, holistic and interdisciplinary way. 

To change the situation, an open call for open research was launched in 2021 among Hungarian universities. Applicants were asked to examine the impact of so-called “weak” or “narrow” artificial intelligence forms – the ability of a computer system to perform a narrowly defined task more efficiently than a human. This volume of papers summarises the results of the work, of which 11 essays have been written by the researchers of the Corvinus University of Budapest, either as single authors or co-authors. “Quality was the only thing that mattered when compiling this volume. It was a pleasure to work with all 23 authors and I have had positive experiences. Working with the Corvinus researchers was particularly good, they were all very open, had a lot of professional experience and the collaboration with them far exceeded my expectations. It is no coincidence that they feature so prominently in the volume,” he stressed. There were only a few topics for which he could not find an expert, and he particularly regrets the omission of the impact of AI on the arts. 

“We cannot talk enough about this issue” 

“During the research period, we also organised a few workshops where everyone could share how they were progressing with the research. These were very well attended, with very lively discussions and debates. I would like to continue the professional discussion with other experts after the publication of the book. We cannot talk enough about this issue,” said the editor. The resulting collection of papers is a good tool to help both professionals and interested lay persons to ask the right questions on the subject. The editor himself has come across many conclusions and findings in the preparation of the book that surprised him, that he had not thought of before, but he does not want to be biased, so he has not given examples – instead he encourages those interested to read the book. He added that artificial intelligence as a technology is developing at an incredible pace and does not need to be stimulated by dissemination, but the changes that will occur with the use of the technology need to be discussed. He added that he decided not to have a foreign summary volume translated into Hungarian because he could not find any English-language literature that comprehensively dealt with the impact of AI. In addition, aggregation of the knowledge of Hungarian experts and the presentation of the Hungarian perspective is a special plus for Hungarian readers. 

The volume was presented by KBSZ at a conference on 4 and 5 October, on behalf of Corvinus, Tamara Keszey, Vice Rector for Research, gave a speech. The book can be read in full online, including in the Corvinus repository and on the KNBSZ website. The publication is not available commercially, but a hard copy is available in the University Library and the Széchenyi Library. 

Corvinus papers in the volume, single authors and co-authors displayed in bold:  

1. Zoltán Kovács – Roland Gurály: The findings of the working group on the impact of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies. 
2. Csaba Csáki: systematic analysis of the risks arising from the spread of artificial intelligence 
3. Miklós Zorkóczy: Artificial intelligence in healthcare – legal, ethical, economic aspects
4. Tamás Bokor: The application of artificial intelligence in education – challenges and implications from a technology-invariant perspective 
5. András Márton: Disruptive technologies in the energy industry 
6. Márk Miskolczi – László Kökény: What does the future hold? – labour market changes in passenger transport 
7. Péter Bagó: The impact of automation in finance – security of financial systems – algorithmic trading-
8. Eszter Kovács: Rethinking production: the impact of digitalisation, automation and robotisation on global supply chains 
9. László Trautmann – Dániel Martin Baranyi – Attila Balogh: Artificial intelligence and the political economy of work
10. Róbert Marciniak – Máté Baksa: Human-machine networks: the impact of digital technologies and artificial intelligence on actor collaboration 
11. Zsolt György Balogh: Control, supervision and monitoring of AI-systems