The Portuguese Government announced this Friday, after the Council of Ministers, that it will soon initiate a dialogue with media companies to expand access to their most recent archives, on an agreed basis, to train the Amália artificial intelligence model. The announcement was made by the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, who argued that Portugal should set an example in the relationship between the national model and media outlets, which have raised concerns about the use of their archives, namely copyrighted content used without authorization or compensation. The minister did not specify timelines for the start of the conversations or the terms under which he intends to reach an agreement.
The Amália project is now entering a new phase, with more training and capacity, now featuring additional resources to interpret texts, audio, and images. The goal is for the model to move from being just a prototype to being integrated into public service customer service, helping citizens access them. The Government also intends to reinforce the databases used, drawing on content from public equipment and services such as the National Library, the Cinemateca, archives, and museums.
The Amália model, presented at the beginning of summer and developed for the Portuguese language, is being implemented in the Gov.pt application to support citizens in accessing public services, including processes such as renewing the Citizen Card. The service will be available on both the computer version and the mobile application, being made available to various areas of the Public Administration, including education, defense, culture, health, and citizen services.
The total investment in the AI model amounts to seven million euros, to which synergies from the Deucalion and MareNostrum 5 supercomputers are added, exceeding 12 million euros.
