The Council of Europe has adopted the first-ever international legally binding treaty aimed at ensuring the respect of human rights, the rule of law and democracy legal standards in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
The treaty, which is also open to non-European countries, sets out a legal framework that covers the entire lifecycle of AI systems and addresses the risks they may pose, while promoting responsible innovation.
The Council of Europe Framework Convention on artificial intelligence and human rights, democracy, and the rule of law was adopted in Strasbourg during the annual ministerial meeting of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, which brings together the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the 46 Council of Europe member states.
The treaty, which carries legal binding, aims to ensure compliance with international human rights, democracy, and rule of law regulations when using artificial intelligence.
The treaty covers the use of AI systems in the public sector – including companies acting on its behalf – and in the private sector. The convention offers parties two ways of complying with its principles and obligations when regulating the private sector: parties may opt to be directly obliged by the relevant convention provisions or, as an alternative, take other measures to comply with the treaty’s provisions while fully respecting their international obligations regarding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. This approach is necessary because of the differences in legal systems around the world.
The convention establishes transparency and oversight requirements tailored to specific contexts and risks, including identifying content generated by AI systems. Parties will have to adopt measures to identify, assess, prevent, and mitigate possible risks and assess the need for a moratorium, a ban or other appropriate measures concerning uses of AI systems where their risks may be incompatible with human rights standards.
They will also have to ensure accountability and responsibility for adverse impacts and that AI systems respect equality, including gender equality, the prohibition of discrimination, and privacy rights. Moreover, parties to the treaty will have to ensure the availability of legal remedies for victims of human rights violations related to the use of AI systems and procedural safeguards, including notifying any persons interacting with AI systems that they are interacting with such systems.
As regards the risks for democracy, the treaty requires parties to adopt measures to ensure that AI systems are not used to undermine democratic institutions and processes, including the principle of separation of powers, respect for judicial independence and access to justice.
The signing phase of the first international treaty on artificial intelligence will commence in September in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius.
France aims to become Europe’s leader in artificial intelligence
This week, France is positioning Paris as a hub for artificial intelligence (AI) by hosting the “Viva Technology” conference, which will feature technology executives and political figures.
Over the past 18 months, France has actively positioned itself as a leader in productive artificial intelligence technologies such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. French President Emmanuel Macron has secured investments from American technology giants like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and is working to revive EU capital market integration to support AI initiatives.
Paris currently ranks second in technology investments after London, and French technology companies are expected to receive approximately $8 billion in 2023. According to Atomico, this figure surpasses the $7 billion received by Germany. There is also an increase in technology startups in France, with approximately 3,000 new companies expected to be established in 2023.