This project has the participation of international experts in artificial intelligence such as Allaine Cerwonka, Virginia Dignum or John Krakauer, according to the entities involved.

Bridge AI was born "from the desire to put Portugal at the forefront of artificial intelligence regulation" and "will produce a set of recommendations to empower society and national decision-makers with the best multidisciplinary scientific knowledge oriented towards the effective application of the AI Act [European AI law]", reads the statement.

The project is funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and coordinated by Helena Moniz from the University of Lisbon and INESC-ID and by researchers from the Champalimaud Foundation and Unbabel, and involves dozens of partners, including collaborators from the Turing Institute and the AI Office of the European Union.

The aim is to bridge the gap between academia, companies and the public sector, so Bridge AI "created five working groups, which will analyse over the next few months various dimensions of the application of the AI Act, based on the analysis of cases from the Center for Responsible AI".

Among the issues that will be addressed within the scope of this work and whose conclusions and recommendations will be presented next October are "what strategy should Portugal adopt to increase AI literacy levels"; "how to address ethical issues in AI regulation processes"; "what are the best practices in AI regulation and ethics outside the European Union"; and what "mechanisms should be adopted to ensure the effective application of the AI Act".

AI "already has a great impact on the lives of all of us and in various sectors. It is, therefore, important to ensure the best understanding and application of the AI Act, which is truly revolutionary legislation", says Helena Moniz, researcher at INESC-ID and project coordinator, quoted in a statement.

"In view of the noise that exists on this extremely complex topic, Bridge AI was born to increase literacy and provide Portuguese society, decision-makers and business leaders with contextualised and holistic information, serving as a support tool for them to make informed decisions based on scientific evidence", adds the researcher.

The Bridge AI project "is based on two essential methodologies: the first inspired by the European Union's decision-making processes, through the creation of working groups focused on specific topics and with objectives and results to be achieved, and a second that aims to transpose the acquired knowledge explicitly and simply to civil society", states the document.

"The case studies analysed within the scope of the Bridge AI project are excellent examples of the potential of AI to improve the well-being of society. However, considering the ethical and legal challenges that these cases pose, particularly in the health area, a multidisciplinary reflection is necessary to ensure that the benefits outweigh the risks" and "this was precisely one of the driving forces for the creation of Bridge AI", concludes Helena Moniz.

In addition to Helena Moniz, the project has three other coordinators, namely Joana Lamego, from the Champalimaud Foundation, and Nuno André and António Novais, from Unbabel.

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