The 2025 AI Action Summit, taking place in Paris, brings together global leaders, industry experts, and academics to address the opportunities and challenges presented by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Following the success of the 2024 Seoul Safety Summit, the AI Action Summit aims to establish a cohesive global framework for AI governance and build on the progress made since then.

A Call to Action

French President Emmanuel Macron has described the summit as “a wake-up call for Europe,” highlighting the need for collective action in the face of AI’s transformative potential.

As the US commits $500 billion to AI infrastructure, the UK has unveiled its Opportunities Action Plan ahead of the UK AI Act’s implementation.

UK tech minister Peter Kyle stated that the AI race must be led by “western, liberal, democratic” countries.

These developments indicate a renewed global dedication to harnessing AI’s capabilities while addressing its risks.

Matt Cloke, CTO at Endava, emphasized the importance of bridging the gap between AI’s potential and its practical implementation.

“Much of the conversation will focus on understanding the risks involved with using AI while guiding decision-making in an ever-changing landscape,” he stated.

Cloke also stressed the role of organizations in ensuring AI adoption goes beyond regulatory frameworks.

“Modernising core systems enables organisations to better harness AI while ensuring regulatory compliance,” he explained.

“With improved data management, automation, and integration capabilities, systems make it easier for organisations to stay agile and adapt to regulatory changes.”

Governance and Workforce: Critical Areas of Focus

Kit Cox, CTO and Founder of Enate, outlined three critical areas for the summit’s agenda.

“First, AI governance needs urgent clarity,” he said. “We need to establish global guidelines to ensure AI is safe, ethical, and aligned across nations. A disconnected approach won’t work; we need unity to build trust and drive long-term progress.”

Cox also emphasized the need for a future-ready workforce.

“Employers and governments must invest in upskilling the workforce for an AI-driven world,” he said. “This isn’t just about automation replacing jobs; it’s about creating opportunities through education and training that genuinely prepare people for the future of work.”

Finally, Cox called for a more equitable distribution of AI’s benefits.

“AI must be fair and democratic both now and in the future,” he said. “The benefits can’t be limited to a select few. We must ensure that AI’s power reaches beyond Silicon Valley to all corners of the globe, creating opportunities for everyone to thrive.”

Making AI in the Public Interest

Professor Gina Neff, Professor of Responsible AI at Queen Mary University of London and Executive Director at Cambridge University’s Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, stressed the importance of involving everyday people in AI development.

“For us in civil society, it’s essential to bring imaginaries about AI into the everyday,” she said. “From the barista who makes your morning latte to the mechanic fixing your car, they all have to understand how AI impacts them and, crucially, why AI is a human issue.”

Neff also emphasized the need for a decentralized approach to AI development.

“I’ll be taking this spirit of public interest into the Summit and pushing back against big tech’s push for hyperscaling. Thinking about AI as something we’re building together – like we do our cities and local communities – puts us all in a better place.”

Addressing Bias and Building an Equitable AI

Professor David Leslie, Professor of Ethics, Technology, and Society at Queen Mary University of London, highlighted the unresolved challenges of bias and diversity in AI systems.

“Over a year after the first AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, only incremental progress has been made to address the many problems of cultural bias and toxic and imbalanced training data that have characterised the development and use of Silicon Valley-led frontier AI systems,” he stated.

Leslie emphasized the need for a public interest-based approach to AI.

“The French AI Action Summit promises to refocus the conversation on AI governance to tackle these and other areas of immediate risk and harm,” he explained. “A main focus will be to think about how to advance public interest AI for all through mission-driven and society-led funding.”

He proposed the creation of a public interest AI foundation, supported by governments, companies, and philanthropic organizations.

“This type of initiative will have to address issues of algorithmic and data biases head-on, at concrete and practice-based levels,” he said. “Only then can it stay true to the goal of making AI technologies – and the infrastructures upon which they depend – accessible global public goods.”

Evaluating AI Systemically

Professor Maria Liakata, Professor of Natural Language Processing at Queen Mary University of London, stressed the need for rigorous evaluation of AI systems.

“AI has the potential to make public service more efficient and accessible,” she said. “But at the moment, we are not evaluating AI systems properly. Regulators are currently at the back foot with evaluation, and developers have no systematic way of offering the evidence regulators need.”

“We must remain agile and listen to the voices of all stakeholders,” she said. “This would give us the evidence we need to develop AI regulation and help us get there faster. It would also help us get better at anticipating the risks posed by AI.”

AI in Healthcare: Balancing Innovation and Ethics

Dr. Vivek Singh, Lecturer in Digital Pathology at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, highlighted the ethical considerations of AI in healthcare.

“The Paris AI Action Summit represents a critical opportunity for global collaboration on AI governance and innovation,” he stated. “I hope to see actionable commitments that balance ethical considerations with the rapid advancement of AI technologies, ensuring they benefit society as a whole.”

Singh emphasized the need for clear frameworks for international cooperation in AI development and deployment.

“A key outcome would be the establishment of clear frameworks for international cooperation, fostering trust and accountability in AI development and deployment,” he said.

A Pivotal Moment for AI Governance

The 2025 AI Action Summit in Paris represents a pivotal moment for global AI governance. With discussions on unity, equity, and public interest at the forefront, the summit aims to address the challenges of bias, regulation, and workforce readiness while ensuring AI’s benefits are shared equitably.

As world leaders and industry experts converge, the hope is that actionable commitments will pave the way for a more inclusive and ethical AI future.

(Photo by Jorge Gascón)

See also: EU AI Act: What businesses need to know as regulations go live

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