The 29th EAPC Europe Conference in Berlin/Germany featured a completely new format. For the first time in the history of the EAPC conferences, all four major German political parties were included in the program, which focused entirely on artificial intelligence. The conference was also characterized by excellent presentations from leading experts and a high level of interest.
Day One dedicated to the EAPC
In keeping with tradition, the first day in Berlin was dedicated to the association. In addition to a meeting of the Executive Board, the General Assembly of the EAPC was held at the headquarters of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, during which all EAPC bodies were newly elected. Reza Kazemi from Germany replaced Gülfem Saydan Sanver as President of the EAPC. Four new members were also elected: Anthony Grally, France, as Vice President and Hélèn Masliah-Gilkarov, France, Arnaldo Costeira, Portugal, Reinis Tocelovskis, Latvia. While the members of the team of auditors and the Code of Conduct Committee remained unchanged. Before the General Assembly, Emily Büning, Managing Director of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, gave an impressive presentation. A joint visit to the “Hall of Tears”, one of the most moving places from the communist era, and a cocktail reception for all participants in the conference center rounded off the program of the first day.
Day Two: Opportunities and risks of AI and interesting presentations in the Konrad-Adenauer-House
The second day began with exciting presentations by Mauricio Moura, Reinis Tocelovskis and Brent Buchanan, who outlined different perspectives on the development of AI in their contributions.
Carsten Reymann, Managing Director of the FDP, presented his view on AI and the upcoming European elections.
This was followed by Sabin Dima from Romania via Zoom, who, as one of Europe’s leading AI experts, inspired the participants with his latest findings, before new facets of AI were once again discussed in a panel discussion with Jan Töpfer, Carl Philipp Burkert and Simon Bujanowski under the moderation of Anthony Grally.
Necati Özkan concluded the morning with his presentation on the local elections in Turkey and the associated influence of AI.
The afternoon was dedicated to a visit to the CDU’s Konrad-Adenauer-House, where presentations on the European elections and the party’s membership service were on the agenda. This was followed by a sightseeing tour across Berlin, which ended with a visit to the DDR Museum.
Day Three: Conference kick-off at the German Bundestag
The first item on the agenda for the third day was a visit to the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, combined with a presentation by Parsa Marvi, Member of the German Bundestag, before the conference continued at the Reinhardtstraßenhöfe conference center. The agenda included presentations by Matt Klink, USA, moderated by Faye Diamond, on the US elections. Prof. Sabine Köszegi, who was unable to come to Berlin due to illness, was connected via Zoom on the topic of “Does AI discriminate against women?” and attracted a great deal of attention.
Christoph Hofinger spoke on the topic of “Human Intelligence” and Ms. Engelhorn’s 25 million donation project, while Michael Reimon spoke on the topic of coaching in politics.
Finally, Tatjana Samsonowa-Denef’s presentation on “How can AI be controlled by AI?” attracted a lot of attention, before the official part of the conference concluded with the panel discussion “Are fair elcection campaigns possible in times of AI?” and the presentations by Dmitry Bolkunets, Christoph Hofinger, Torbjörn Sjöström and Marie Wutzler, moderated by Anthony Grally.
The 29th European Conference ended with a guided tour of the German government district and a gala dinner in the Käfer restaurant high above the German Bundestag.
The following day, there was also a special guided tour of the German Bundestag for all those who were still in Berlin.
At this point, a big thank you to all speakers, moderators, participants and especially to the sponsors of the conference Reimon, Cygnal, Time to Talk too, Hartinger Consulting, Wahlkampf Akademie, Campaigns & Technology, zaftrafund, Digiroadshow, Party Party and Reza Kazemi.
