At a time when the whole world meets in Paris to discuss the strategic, geopolitical and financial challenges of AI, let’s put it back in its place: that of a tool. And as with any other tool that has revolutionized our way of producing, even to live, the real winner is not the one who invented it, but the one who used it effectively the first.
Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool to transform the economic and human challenges of companies and administrations into opportunities. However, in France, the appropriation of AI is still shy, and largely the prerogative of large companies. Our SMEs and ETIs, which constitute most of our economic fabric, are slow to appropriate it: according to Bpifrance, around 30 to 40 % of French companies use AI, compared to almost 60 % in the United States. And while local communities are taken in hold between budgetary pressure and the need to maintain quality public services, debates are still too often concentrated on risks or the use of “sovereign” technologies while the battlefield is global .
Far from the geostrategic confrontation between China and the United States, AI already offers very concrete solutions to optimize public spending. Montpellier Métropole uses for example a generative AI to answer the simple questions of citizens more quickly, thus freeing up time to employees for more complex tasks. This is concretely how AI can reduce costs while improving services in the territories.
And the potential of the AI to support the modernization of our administrations is immense. According to MEDEF, the French state could save up to 12 billion euros thanks to these technologies, and this estimate is probably conservative. In addition, with more modern systems, communities could reduce their IT expenses by 20 %, while increasing their productivity and user satisfaction.
Fear of failure
Let us therefore be pragmatic: the question is not so much that of the nationality of AI models but that of the massive adoption of these technologies and the benefit obtained by our economic and social fabric. Unfortunately, our European cultural habits have hard skin. The precautionary principle, if fundamental, slows down too much the adoption of innovation in Europe. Added to this is a fear of failure, which remains stigmatized, and a dissuasive regulation. AI ACT European, although animated by commendable intentions, places additional obstacles to adoption for SMEs and ETIs, by multiplying administrative requirements and costs.
Let’s stop seeing AI only as a threat to employment and privacy: let’s take it as an opportunity to improve our quality of life and the competitiveness of our businesses. When agriculture has mechanized it was a whole trade that had to reinvent itself with what it involves transformation of skills and tools. AI is not an end in itself, but a means. A way to make our public services more efficient, more accessible and less expensive. A way for our companies to gain productivity, innovate and reinvent their models.
For this, it is essential to lift the brakes on the adoption of the AI. The Summit for Action on AI must be an opportunity to refocus on real battles: simplifying regulations, encouraging training, freeing investment. Elected officials, public officials, business leaders and citizens must measure that AI is a chance for France and Europe, and that it is urgent to seize it. The stakes are high: this is our competitiveness and the sustainability of our public services. Consequently, let’s not wait any longer, let’s adopt AI today, so that our territories and our companies are not the left-handed of this technological revolution.
* Jacques Pommeraud is CEO