Prime Minister Robert Abela on Thursday announced that a public consultation on the country's updated National AI Strategy has been launched.

The announcement was made at a Cabinet meeting that was held at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre.

This updated National AI Strategy is built from the foundations of the Malta's originally published 2019 Malta AI Strategy. While 80% of the 2019 AI Strategy has been either implemented or being enacted, 20% of its contents are either in ongoing communication or have been rendered obsolete due to this technology's rapidly evolving nature.

Earlier this August, MDIA CEO Kenneth Brincat said that Malta's National AI Strategy needs to be consistently refreshed in order for the country to remain at the cutting edge. During this Cabinet meeting, Brincat reiterated these words, adding that this update is necessary to keep up with societal changes, regulatory developments for this sector, and sustained technological innovation.

Brincat told the Cabinet on Thursday that this AI strategy's vision is to create a trusted AI ecosystem that promotes societal wellbeing, inclusive and social and economic progress, and sustainability.

This National AI Strategy sets out how Malta will regulate artificial intelligence till 2030, including on ethical concerns.

This cabinet meeting was held inside Ta' Qali's MFCC while the Techxpo was ongoing right outside their room. The Techxpo opened today, on Thursday 20 November, and will be open till Saturday 22 November.

Prime Minister Abela stated that he wants Malta to become the most AI-friendly country in Europe, "and we will manage," he affirmed.

He said that AI and robotics must not be used to create more social inequalities, but the contrary - the Prime Minister called for these technologies to be used to reduce poverty across Malta and Gozo. He said that with the government's socialist roots, the Maltese government wants to ensure that everyone has the same level of opportunities to access these technologies. PM Abela said that these socialist roots will guide the country's progress towards the future and referenced the announced €100 million investment into such technologies and free AI courses for the masses in the recent annual budget.

Prime Minister Abela said that Malta is well-positioned to use AI and capitalise from its benefits. He stressed that artificial intelligence will not be used to take away people's jobs, but to improve workers' productivity and create more quality jobs with better working conditions. To illustrate this point, during this Cabinet meeting, a humanoid robot gave a brief intervention in which it told the Cabinet that robots like it may be used for rote work to optimise productivity, side-by-side with human workers.

Abela said that Malta is in a good economic position to use AI to create new economic niches that in turn can contribute to more economic growth.

He stressed that people must remain as the enablers for artificial intelligence whenever they use it, and that people should not grow lazy because of these technologies.

Guest speakers during this Cabinet meeting called for AI to be used in Malta to safeguard and promote its artistic and cultural heritage, for Malta to not only consume AI but export it, to assist healthcare workers so that patients receive better care (plus assistance for patients to adhere to their medication programmes, as an example), and for AI to be used responsibly and ethically to bolster education for students.

During this Cabinet meeting, it was disclosed that Maltese companies have embraced AI more than businesses from other EU countries have - 17.3% of Maltese companies are already using AI, compared to 13.5% on average in the whole EU. 87% of the Maltese public want national authorities to shape AI in the country to protect rights and values. Furthermore, 77% of Maltese people are familiar with AI, however, only a quarter (24%) express high trust in it; the elderly are the most sceptical demographic towards AI.

The strongest learning interest for this modern technology exists in adults aged between 25-54 years of age, mostly due to curiosity (52%), for skills development (46%), or for career advancement (45%). It was also said that Malta has, proportionally, some of the most graduates in AI from all OECD countries.

This AI strategy realignment has already been influenced by dozens of meetings with stakeholders. The public consultation document for this strategy has been published on https://konsultazzjoni.gov.mt.