Italian watchdog faces recruitment hurdles for AI experts post ChatGPT shutdown

Soon after Italian watchdog Garante took on ChatGPT with a temporary shutdown locally last year, it tried to strengthen its team by hiring four artificial intelligence (AI) experts.

But Italy’s data protection agency could not recruit the people it wanted, with a dozen candidates dropping out over issues including pay, highlighting a growing challenge facing regulators around the world.

“The search process went worse than our low expectations,” Garante board member Guido Scorza told Reuters, adding: “We will come up with something else, but so far we have lost”.

Demand for AI experience and expertise has surged since OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT in late 2022, and regulators have found themselves vying for talent from the same shallow pool.

But relatively low pay, long hiring processes and visa problems are thwarting their hiring ambitions, industry participants familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Other public bodies in the European Union could soon face similar problems, just as the bloc rolls out some of the most sweeping and impactful AI regulation in the world.

The EU has been recruiting for its newly opened AI Office, which will oversee enforcement of the AI Act, as well as the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency (ECAT) which covers both the AI Act and the Digital Services Act.

“The biggest problem will be enforcement and getting people for this,” said EU lawmaker Dragos Tudorache, who oversaw the drafting of the AI Act.

Meanwhile, Britain continues to recruit for its own AI Safety Institute, launched in the wake of the summit it held for world leaders in October.

Many of the public sector roles advertised at these organisations offer salaries at a fraction of industry standards and appear geared towards recent graduates, which some warn may deter the best talent.

Around the world, governments have acknowledged the need for AI expertise to keep tabs on the rapidly-developing technology.

The United States has demonstrated a willingness to pay more and be more flexible about its recruitment processes. Reuters