The Council of Europe, comprising 46 European states (27 from the EU), has recently adopted the first internationally binding treaty designed to regulate artificial intelligence. This agreement, open to countries outside of Europe as well, establishes a legal framework that applies to the entire life cycle of AI systems with a focus on risk assessment and responsible innovation.
The new international agreement requires signatory states to take measures to identify, evaluate, prevent and mitigate risks associated with AI in both public and private sectors. These risks must be carefully assessed in order to ensure that they do not conflict with human rights standards. States must ensure that AI systems respect equality, prevent discrimination, protect privacy and are not misused to undermine democratic institutions.
The treaty was developed over the past two years with input from a committee consisting of representatives from the 46 Council of Europe states and 11 other countries. Consultations were also held with members of the private sector, civil society, and academia to ensure that all perspectives were taken into account when developing this regulatory framework.
On September 5th at a conference of justice ministers in Vilnius, signatories will have the opportunity to adopt the treaty’s provisions as presented or implement comparable measures in accordance with human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The treaty includes a monitoring mechanism to ensure effective implementation and was designed to accommodate diverse legal systems of participating countries. This regulatory framework represents a significant step towards ethical AI development and responsible innovation on an international scale.
