The Council of Europe’s “Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law” was adopted in Strasbourg on Friday, 17 May, during the annual meeting of foreign ministers from the organisation’s 46 member states.
The treaty—the first international legal instrument aiming to regulate AI—will be open for signature in Vilnius on 5 September during a conference of justice ministers from the 46 [member states] but may be adopted by non-European countries as well.
This point was emphasised by Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić: “It is a response to the need for an international legal standard supported by states in different continents which share the same values”, she declared.
[The idea of enabling] the broadest possible acceptance was already at work within the intergovernmental body that spent 2 years working on drafting the text, since—in addition to the Council of Europe’s 46 member states—it brought together the European Union, 11 non-member states (including the United States, Canada, Israel, Australia, and Japan), and representatives from civil society, industry, and academia acting as observers.
The approach used in this new convention is based on assessing risks from an AI’s design to its use, including its development.
It will cover the use of AI systems by public authorities as well as private players, and its application will be monitored by a follow-up mechanism.
Link to the framework convention: https://aeur.eu/f/c94 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)