The first legally binding global treaty on artificial intelligence will be inked on Thursday by key stakeholders including the United States, Britain, and members of the European Union. This new legal framework, called the AI Convention, was signed by 57 countries and passed in May. It strived to mitigate the harms of AI while fostering proper development, particularly regarding human rights abuses.
Reuters reports that AI Convention directs mainly the issue of human rights in the context of AI advancements. Britain’s justice minister Shabana Mahmood has called the treaty of paramount importance to guarantee that new technologies would not erode such principles as human rights and the rule of law.
The treaty was originally written by the Council of Europe, an international human rights organization founded in 1949. However, the Council is independent from the European Union and all the 27 EU member countries are among the 46 countries that are part of the Council. The Convention stands independently from the EU AI Act, which subjects overarching legislation on the AI systems to the internal market of the EU. The treaty-making process started in 2019 when an ad hoc committee considered the possibility of AI framework convention. It was adopted in 2022 by the Committee on Artificial Intelligence and the final text was completed.
Criticism of the AI Convention’s Scope
However, there are specific objections to the treaty stating that its principles are too vague. Other stakeholders involved in the drafting process were civil society organizations and Francesca Fanucci who is a legal officer at the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL). She noted that the treaty was ‘diluted’ into vague principles, which may lead to problems of legal security and comprehensibility, as well as legal effectiveness.
Fanucci also pointed on some concerns like the exclusion of AI systems, allowing AI for national security, and less oversight of private organizations as compared to a public organization. ” This Convention is a major step to ensuring that these new technologies can be harnessed without eroding our oldest values, like human rights and the rule of law. ” she said.
Implementation and Global Impact
Each country that has signed the AI Convention may opt to keep, enact, or continue with legislative, administrative, or other measures in relation to the measures set in this convention. The UK government continues to pledge to cooperate with regulators, the devolved administrations, and local authorities to achieve the most suitable method of applying the elements of the new treaty. This groundbreaking treaty is a key milestone in the international regulation of AI, as well as the opportunities and risks of governing new technologies internationally.