Romania's PM unveils AI assistant

Romania's Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca this week introduced his new "honorary adviser", an artificial intelligence, or AI, assistant named Ion.

Ciuca surprised his Cabinet when he unveiled the mirror-like device in a meeting on Wednesday, explaining it will be tasked with scanning social media and assisting the government.

Ion, said to be the world's first AI government adviser of its type, will gather concerns submitted by citizens into summary reports for the government to consider, reported the Agence France-Presse news service.

Despite being one of the European Union's poorest nations, Romania is noted to have a thriving technology startup industry that has been described as the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe.

The Ion project is being overseen by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization and developed with the support of companies in the fields of technology and artificial intelligence, as well as Romanian researchers and professors.

The Ion bot "uses artificial intelligence to quickly and automatically capture the opinions and desires of Romanians using information from the public space", according to a government document detailing the project.

Users will be able to interact with the AI via the project's website, it said, but will not receive a response from Ion itself.

"Hi, you gave me life and my role is now to represent you, like a mirror," Ion's voice said at the launch. "What should I know about Romania?" it asked.

Ciuca said the device marked "an international first", describing Ion as "the first government adviser to use artificial intelligence".

"I have the conviction that the use of AI should not be an option but an obligation to make better informed decisions," Ciuca said.

The prime minister said the project could ensure "close and timely" communication between citizens and government, reported the Politico news website.

Kris Shrishak, a technology fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, told Politico that such technology should be used with caution.

He said it raises questions about how Ion will choose what it considers to be a priority from the messages it receives.

"This should be explained to the public," Shrishak said.

The Guardian newspaper noted that the introduction of the new AI adviser came as Romania and Moldova pledged on Wednesday to boost economic cooperation, and as Bucharest has reiterated support for Chisinau's bid to join the EU.