Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, provided updates regarding the development of the EC proposal for an AI regulation.
The public hearing of the European Parliament (EP) was held for a select set of their Committees like the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA). In her opening speech, Commissioner Vestager acknowledged the EP’s role and work in the democratic processes towards the regulation and highlighted the tight connection between the AI regulation, the Digital Service Act (DSA) and the Digital Market Act (DMA). Vestager claimed that it is essential that all three acts are enabled. This helps to prevent disinformation and hate speech and simultaneously the establishment of a fairer and more open data market. Furthermore, the acts support the goal of the European Commission (EC) to give consumers access to open and fair digital ecosystems. The Commissioner explained that data sharing within the economy and the society through professional actors and structures are highly necessary for the establishment of a digitalised society and economy. To enable data sharing while respecting consumers’ privacy and without illegal data transfers, the European data governance act is inevitable. Conclusively, the Commissioner stressed that the most important aspects are to fight everything that could endanger democracy and at the same time to use data and technology for the benefit of society.
While discussions on a legislation for AI are still going on in the EU, many experts and researchers around the globe argue that the EU can win the battle of trust concerning AI. Bart Selman, President of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), stated that the EU is further ahead in terms of regulations than the US. Even though EU policymaking is slower compared to other nations or institutions, it incorporates more voices and perspectives than for instance policymaking in the US or China. Another factor is that the EU was able to make trustworthy and human-compatible AI a clear priority, resulting in the acceptance of AI by the general population. Kenneth Propp, Professor of European Union law at Georgetown University, suspects that the fact that the EU is not as engaged in developing military applications for AI, unlike the US, could have a positive effect on the EU’s AI reputation.
Despite the positive reputation of AI in the EU, the process towards a regulation still faces various challenges. At the current state of affairs, the EP has not yet decided which Committees will take on the lead to further amend the text of the AI regulation. In addition to the lack of a lead committee, a recently published study conducted by investigators at the University of Warwick showed that the hype about the possibilities, which AI opens in the medical sector, does not correspond to reality. According to the study, it will at most make sense to implement AI as a complementing feature. Daniel Castro, Vice President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation in Washington DC, mentioned another concern. He believes that the EU’s impact on AI research globally has fallen significantly after Brexit, and therefore the impact of the European-wide AI regulation on the global market may be limited. In addition to Brexit, the United Kingdom tries to shift away from the AI regulation of the EU by promising a new own strategy to build the best “pro-innovation system” in the world. In contrast to the EU regulation, the national AI strategy of the United Kingdom has a section on governing AI effectively, but repeatedly stresses that rules will be relatively light touched. This development does not make the EU’s approach easier.
Since the EC declared their cooperation on AI with various Member States in April 2018, the work progressed steadily. Barely two years later in February 2020, the White Paper on AI was published by the EC. The next steps include the EP’s and EC’s feedback on the White Paper. Regarding the current situation, the EP is likely to not start working on the adapted regulations until later this month. Therefore, new developments, with respect to the final direction the regulation will take, can be expected at the earliest in October. Moreover, Commissioner Vestager hopes that an agreement on the DSA and DMA can be reached by spring 2022.