On Wednesday 24 January, I-Com’s President Stefano da Empoli presented his latest book entitled “L’economia di ChatGPT. Tra false paure e veri rischi” (EGEA).

The event was organised by the Institute in collaboration with Digitalians and the discussion was enriched by the participation of the MEP Brando Benifei (AI Act’s Co-rapporteur), Lucilla Sioli (Director for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Industry, DG CONNECT, European Commission) and Alberto La Bella (Coordinator Telecommunications and Transports, Permanent Representation of Italy to the EU).

The enormous media clamour sparked by the launch of ChatGPT, and continued with the release of other products capable of generating texts, images, videos and codes in seconds, has brought artificial intelligence (AI) back to the centre of the technological discourse more than ever. The book recounts this revolution and its possible economic implications in the coming years and decades, looking at the benefits but also the risks and with an eye to the geopolitical profiles. If generative AI puts the United States in a position of a clear advantage over China, Europe – where many scientists and some of the managers involved in this revolution come from -, unfortunately lags behind. In such a complex scenario, Italy still does not have a real strategy for AI, where broad temporal and spatial horizons and a specific budget are needed. All this and much more is discussed in the book.