The first legally binding international treaty on artificial intelligence began to open for signature on Thursday by the countries that negotiated it, including members of the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, the Council of Europe human rights body said.
The Convention on Artificial Intelligence, years in the making and adopted in May after discussions among 57 countries, addresses the risks that artificial intelligence may pose, while also aiming to promote responsible innovation.
“This convention is an important step towards ensuring that these new technologies can be exploited without eroding our oldest values such as human rights and the rule of law,” said UK Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood.
The AI Convention focuses primarily on protecting the human rights of people affected by AI systems and is separate from the EU AI law, which came into force last month.
The EU AI Act provides comprehensive rules on the development, deployment and use of artificial intelligence systems in the EU internal market.
The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is an international organisation separate from the EU with the mandate to protect human rights. The entity is made up of 46 member countries, including all 27 EU member states.
In 2019, an ad hoc committee began examining the feasibility of a framework agreement on artificial intelligence, and in 2022, an AI Committee was formed, which drafted and negotiated the text.
Signatories may choose to adopt or maintain legislative, administrative or other measures to give effect to the provisions.
Francesca Fanucci, a legal expert at the European Centre for Non-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL), which helped draft the treaty along with other civil society groups, told Reuters that the agreement had been “diluted” into a broad set of principles.
“The wording of the principles and obligations contained in this convention is so broad and full of reservations that it raises serious doubts about its legal certainty and its effective applicability,” he said.
Fanucci highlighted the shortcomings of exemptions for AI systems used for national security purposes and the limited oversight of private companies compared to the public sector. “This double standard is disappointing,” he added.
Source: Terra
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