The development of artificial intelligence may paradoxically strengthen the position of Statistics Poland (GUS). In a world where AI models are increasingly responsible for searching for and organising information, the importance of reliable, well-described and easily accessible public data is growing.
According to GUS President Marek Cierpiał-Wolan, the office is currently facing two challenges related to the development of artificial intelligence. On the one hand, it has been using AI algorithms and machine learning for several years to classify various processes and phenomena, as well as for analytical work. On the other hand, it must ensure that reliable public data becomes the fuel for AI systems.
“Statistics Poland must change day by day, because reality itself is changing. The biggest challenge for us is, of course, our biggest competitor and at the same time our partner, namely artificial intelligence, which is capable of preparing many reports and indicators but, most worryingly, often uses information that is not entirely reliable,” Marek Cierpiał-Wolan told Newseria news agency. “We want artificial intelligence to be our partner. That means we are trying to enable AI algorithms to have priority access to our resources.”
Within the European Statistical System, AI is already being treated as one of the key directions of development. Eurostat stresses that artificial intelligence is changing statistical practices and opening up new ways of “talking to data.” In this context, the role of a statistical office may go beyond the traditional collection and publication of indicators. It is also about building standards for information quality and countering disinformation. In the expert’s view, the way data is made available is crucial.
“Statistics Poland should play a leading role and has a unique opportunity in its history to take the number one position in the information market, because we are the office that collects information and, above all, ensures its quality,” the GUS President stresses. “This is our most important mission: to make sure that the information we prepare carries a quality mark, so that everyone knows they can rely on it and use it as the basis for sound decisions.”
This perspective fits well with the practice of the central bank. The National Bank of Poland emphasizes that inflation and GDP projections are among the factors considered by the Monetary Policy Council in its decision-making, while the bank also publishes four core inflation measures calculated on the basis of GUS data. This shows that the quality and availability of public statistics matter directly not only for economists, but also for monetary policy and market expectations as a whole.
According to Statistics Poland’s flash estimate, CPI inflation in March 2026 stood at 3.0% year on year, after 2.1% in both January and February, while the NBP’s inflation target remains at 2.5% with a symmetrical deviation band of plus or minus 1 percentage point. The NBP’s March projection, in turn, assumes average annual inflation of 2.3% in 2026 and GDP growth of 3.9%.
“There is no such thing as a sufficient amount of information. New data always allow us to ask new questions and look for new answers, so in this respect people can never be fully satisfied. However, when it comes to the quality of our public statistics in many respects, it is much greater than their public use would suggest. That means there is much more reliable and accessible information than actually makes its way into public circulation, and much more than is used by the specialists who are best qualified to analyse this kind of data,” says Professor Joanna Tyrowicz, a member of the Monetary Policy Council.
Marek Cierpiał-Wolan stresses that Statistics Poland should create certain standards according to which information is collected, classified and made available. This is especially important in times of disinformation and fake news.
“My favourite statement is that Statistics Poland should act as an anti-hallucinogenic remedy in the poisoned information environment of the modern world. The answer to various kinds of artificial intelligence hallucinations is high-quality information,” adds the President of Statistics Poland.
The statements made by the head of GUS and the Monetary Policy Council member lead to a similar conclusion: in a data-driven economy, advantage will not come solely from having the most information, but from being able to guarantee its quality, comparability and usefulness. For public statistics, this means the need for further digitalisation, better interfaces and making resources available in such a way that they are understandable both to experts and to ordinary users, as well as to AI systems.
“If we need information to solve specific problems, today we usually turn to artificial intelligence. However, by using AI algorithms ourselves, we will try to position ourselves appropriately in these queries and convince potential users to look first at our own resources,” Marek Cierpiał-Wolan points out. “A necessary condition is improving the interface, because it is not yet flexible or attractive enough for users to turn directly to GUS resources. They tend to access them through various intermediaries.”
