European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho has opened an inquiry into the measures governing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by external experts in the evaluation of EU funding proposals. The inquiry will focus on whether the institutions concerned put in place sufficient safeguards regarding AI use.

Following a complaint by a Polish company related to the evaluation of a proposal for funding under the Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator programme, the Ombudswoman has asked the European Commission and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) a number of questions.

The questions address matters such as what rules are in place concerning the use of AI by expert evaluators, how the Commission and EISMEA assess the risks and opportunities of evaluators using third party AI tools, and if evaluators are required to disclose their use of AI.

As part of the inquiry, the Ombudswoman also plans to inspect some documents that EISMEA and the Commission may hold regarding AI use by external experts.

Background

The Polish company that submitted the complaint alleged that the external experts evaluating its proposal for EISMEA had used third-party artificial intelligence (AI) systems in a manner that had made the evaluation unfair.

It also argued that clearer rules governing the use of AI systems by project evaluators should be established.