AI & Customs Series. Episode 3: How can we stay smarter than AIs?

In this instalment of CustomsClear's "AI & Customs Series", Enrika Naujokė (Director, CustomsClear) talks to Frank Heijmann, Counsellor Customs at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the European Union, about how customs professionals can stay smarter than artificial intelligence (AI) as it becomes ever more capable.

Topics covered:

• Why AI still depends on humans to supply facts, and why intuition remains a distinctly human strength
• Historical evidence that new technology (computers, the internet, blockchain, and now AI) reshapes jobs rather than eliminating them, illustrated by Dutch Customs' 40-plus years of computerisation
• How education must adapt to how today's students already learn, and how AI can be integrated into teaching the way earlier technologies (such as iPads) were
• The role AI could play in lawmaking — as a tool to test draft legislation for contradictions, rather than as a decision-maker, since law reflects human opinions and values that AI cannot supply
• The proposed EU Customs Authority as a supporting (not leading) body for the 27 member states, and its relationship to the EU Customs Data Hub
• Why a knowledge and innovation function, and harmonised, international customs education across member states, are needed alongside new technology and data systems
• The case for training customs officials and businesses together to build shared understanding and compliance

For a broader overview of the topic, please watch the full recording. The slides are available in the Resources section.

Please note that this summary was generated using AI, based on the recording and available slides.