The European Commission is considering subjecting artificial intelligence (AI) developers to new legally binding requirements.
The new rules are expected to apply to so-called ‘high-risk’ sectors, such as health or transport, and aim to ensure the ethical development and use of AI, as reported on Thursday 16 January by Bloomberg, which consulted a draft White Paper on AI that the Commission is due to unveil in mid-February.
According to the document, the EU would, inter alia, consider new rules for public authorities on the deployment and use of facial recognition. It also hopes to ask Member States to appoint authorities to oversee the application of the future AI rules.
“The confidence and security of EU citizens will be at the centre of the EU strategy”, said a Commission spokesperson.
“As we are committed to ensuring that Europe is ready for the digital age, we need to take full advantage of the benefits of artificial intelligence: to enable scientific breakthroughs, to maintain the leading position of EU companies, to improve the life of every citizen by strengthening diagnosis and healthcare and by increasing the efficiency of agriculture”, they said.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, committed to presenting “a legislative proposal for a coordinated European approach to the human and ethical implications of artificial intelligence” within the first hundred days of her mandate (see EUROPE 12352/7).
The Commission will meet on 19 February to discuss the implementation of a coordinated European approach on AI. It will “soon” present a plan “based on the work done in the past few years”, the spokesperson said. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki, intern)