10 Things You Need to Know About the EU White Paper on Artificial Intelligence
On February 19, 2020, the European Commission published proposals for the regulation of AI with potentially far-reaching implications both for users and developers worldwide. The proposals are contained in a densely written 26-page “White Paper” which in this article we distil to 10 take-away points. The White Paper, together with the other strategy documents published at the same time1, is vital reading for any business which participates in the data economy, and in particular companies that operate across borders.
At a very high level, the 10 take-away points include the fact that new, extensive risk-based regulation is on its way, which is broad in its material scope and might affect a number of different actors that are involved in the lifecycle of AI systems. The proposed framework would most certainly have extra-territorial impact. The new requirements will mainly affect AI which is considered “high-risk”, namely if it is deployed in health care, transport, energy and parts of the public sector, or if it is used in the employment sphere (for recruitment purposes or in situations impacting workers’ rights), or for remote biometric identification and “other intrusive surveillance technologies”. Non-high-risk AI will also be impacted, with an offer to comply voluntarily with certain requirements. The White Paper raises a number of questions, including in relation to global compliance issues such as export controls. It is important that stakeholders provide their comments on the White Paper by May 31, 2020. The White Paper is a statement of intent, setting out the Commission’s bold and ambitious vision of advancing as well as regulating AI. It offers some insights as to what the forthcoming new framework might include. This is the first publication that does so, and it is the first time that the Commission has confirmed that new regulation on AI will be adopted.