The Council of Europe human rights group said that the first legally binding international AI treaty would be available for signature on Thursday by the nations that negotiated it, including European Union members, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
The AI Convention, which had been in the works for years and was adopted in May following consultations among 57 nations, tackles the hazards that AI may represent while encouraging responsible research.
“This Convention is a significant step towards ensuring that these new technologies can be used without undermining our most fundamental values, such as human rights and the rule of law,” Britain’s justice minister, Shabana Mahmood, said in a statement.
The AI Convention is distinct from the EU AI Act, which went into effect last month, and focusses primarily on the protection of people’s human rights when it comes to AI systems.
The EU’s AI Act establishes extensive laws for the development, implementation, and use of AI systems in the EU internal market.
The Council of Europe, established in 1949, is a separate international organisation from the EU with a purpose to protect human rights; 46 nations are members, including all 27 EU member states.
In 2019, an ad hoc group began investigating the viability of an AI framework convention, and in 2022, the group on Artificial Intelligence was founded to develop and negotiate the language.
The signatories may choose to enact or maintain legislative, administrative, or other measures to give effect to the provisions.
Francesca Fanucci, a legal expert at ECNL (European Centre for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting) who helped design the pact with other civil society groups, told Reuters that the accord had been “watered down” to a broad set of principles.
“The formulation of principles and obligations in this convention is so overbroad and fraught with caveats that it raises serious questions about their legal certainty and effective enforceability,” she told the audience.
Fanucci cited problems such as exclusions for AI systems used for national security and less inspection of private enterprises compared to the public sector. “This double standard is disappointing,” she explained.
The UK government stated that it will collaborate with regulators, devolved administrations, and local authorities to ensure that its new regulations are properly implemented.
