the Arraiolos Summit and Tallinn Digital Summit: AI is an issue, a technology that will lead us into the future

Fellow Presidents, First Ladies,

Prime Minister, High Commissioner,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to be hosting you all here in Estonia, in our beautiful seaside capital and medieval Hansastadt, Tallinn. I am particularly delighted that we are able to start our Arraiolos meeting with eleven heads of state present together with guests of the Tallinn Digital Summit, one of the most highly respected gatherings in the digital world. Today's dinner is a place where years of experience and modernity merge in the best possible way. And I hope - in fact I am convinced - that both events happening today and tomorrow here in Tallinn will carry a progressive attitude and united worldview on into the future.

For the Arraiolos Group this meeting is a milestone. This is its 20th meeting, and as such an anniversary of sorts. The group was launched in 2003 as an initiative of President Jorge Sampaio of Portugal, and since then it has garnered increasing interest and grown in importance, enlarging from its initial six nations to 15 Member States. I have always awaited the Arraiolos meetings with interest and great expectations, as the format allows us to discuss issues freely and in a more personalised way. This is a gathering at which friendships are made and points of view are brought together. I am sure that will be seen again tomorrow when we resume our discussions.

The Tallinn Digital Summit is a slightly younger endeavour. It started out in 2017 as part of Estonia's first ever EU presidency, and has continued to inspire the digital world ever since, except during the COVID years when, as I'm sure you recall, it was difficult for us to come together. This years' summit explores frameworks for beneficial, scalable and interoperable applications of AI across diverse societies and economies. It also examines the principles which should guide AI deployment in governance, education, economic development, welfare, security and defence. And as if by chance, my fellow presidents and I are also discussing AI applications.

So, welcome once again! AI is an issue, a technology that will lead us into the future, one that can't be ignored. But we cannot ignore also the issues that are here, clear and present. Global tension is rising; ideological strife in terms of grand strategy is intensifying; there is visible friction among countries who consider themselves allies; and dependencies are growing, some of them not at all nice. The number of conflicts around the world is increasing, two of them close to Europe and filling our agenda on a daily basis.

My friends,

Two or so weeks ago, a number of us were in New York, at the United Nations, where concerns about the future were in the air. The organisation, and with it the world order, is facing a lot of challenges. There is a certain discontent and impatience floating around corridors. But the challenges have always been there. Our task is to overcome them. For smaller nations, this is even more important, because the principles of the Charter are our lifeline, our insurance when it comes to being equal partners in this world.

We should all be asking ourselves: what kind of future do we want? A world dominated by brutal use of force and violence, where might is always right? Or a peaceful and prosperous world where law and order, justice and universally agreed rules and principles prevail? This question is relevant to everyone, including while we adjust to new technologies like AI and the nanosphere.

I touched upon the real conflicts and wars raging in Europe and its vicinity. The Middle East is in turmoil, especially since the horrendous 7th of October terrorist attack by Hamas. What has followed - the elongated attempt to wipe Hamas from Gaza - has caused disproportionate human suffering. Whole families have been killed, and children left without mothers and fathers. The destruction of infrastructure is something we see every day on our screens. This should not be the way we resolve crises, the way we bring back peace and stability to our homes. We must not start to think that this way is possible, that it is tolerable. At the end of the day, terrorism and excessive force feed each other. I am glad that some light has been brought into the process with a plan to achieve lasting peace to the region. Hopefully peace will be given a chance by all of the parties involved.

The other hotspot, of course, is Ukraine, where Russia has unleashed its aggression on another nation, continuously bombing civilian targets and bringing horror to the streets of Ukrainian towns and villages. Among the many other terrible things it has done, Russia has taken tens of thousands of Ukrainian children far from their homes and families with the aim of indoctrinating them in accordance with their ideology. This should not be happening, especially when it is being done by a nation which has the right of veto when it comes to protecting the principles of the UN Charter. Russia has shown that it is not adhering to the common rules and that it does not want peace - or at least a peace that does not meet their selfish and humiliating desires. As long as Russia's positions and behaviour remain the same, they must be constantly directed towards change, even forced in that direction. Isolation, sanctions, measures against impunity and broad and comprehensive support for Ukrainians must prevail. This is, and will remain, a long-lasting endeavour, but what else can we do? Do we have the right to act differently? In Alaska we saw that talk is cheap, at least at the stage we are in now.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Geopolitics has made a comeback. The world is setting itself to face this challenge. At the same time, a grand new technological leap is taking place - one which will certainly bring about a big change. Will it be positive? Will it be the one that preserves our values, or on the contrary, will it challenge them? That is in our hands.

Whichever global problem we approach, we must build on human rights and basic freedoms. This applies to new technologies as well. Otherwise, we might find ourselves no longer in control of our future. We have to find a way to subordinate this new technology to our will, to our desire to enhance democracy and a democratic way of life.

To ensure this, we must be more than just vigilant. We must be aware of the good and bad, the positive and the negative sides of new technology, amplifying the former and turning it to our advantage, while supressing the latter and protecting ourselves against it. All of this must become a natural, an integral part of our day-to-day functioning. How can we reach this point? How can we guarantee it? We have to start with education. Learning to ride a bike is much easier and more effective at the age of five than it is at the age of fifty. As such, we here in Estonia have decided to provide all secondary schools, every student and teacher, with free access to AI tools. This is being done with the aim of bringing AI into the learning process in a streamlined way so that users can create a common culture, a common ecosystem, around this topic. Only in this way can we have control over the machine, learn from it, and develop with it.

My fellow presidents, First Ladies, ladies and gentlemen,

I wish you all very productive meetings and discussions here at the summit, and a wonderful stay in Tallinn and Estonia. I hope you enjoy the golden autumn, take the time to admire the spires of our Old Town and get a chance to sample our cuisine. And even more importantly, I hope you all feel happy and relaxed here. If you return home with a smile on your face, then we will have succeeded. Thank you, and my best to you all.