Tanya Weaver Thu 5 Sep 2024
Collected at: https://eandt.theiet.org/2024/09/05/uk-signs-first-international-legally-binding-treaty-governing-safe-use-artificial
Human rights and democracy will be further protected from threats posed by AI under a new international agreement signed by the countries that negotiated it, including European Union members, the US and the UK.
The Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law was opened for signature today during a conference of Council of Europe ministers of justice in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.
The convention was signed by Andorra, Georgia, Iceland, Norway, Moldova, San Marino and the UK as well as Israel, the US and the European Union.
Adopted in May 2024 after discussions between 57 countries, the AI convention provides a legal framework covering the entire life cycle of AI systems. It promotes AI progress and innovation, while managing the risks it may pose to human rights, democracy and the rule of law. These risks include the spread of misinformation or using biased data that may prejudice decisions.
The UK’s lord chancellor and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, who signed the treaty, said: “Artificial intelligence has the capacity to radically improve the responsiveness and effectiveness of public services, and turbocharge economic growth. However, we must not let AI shape us – we must shape AI.
“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.”
The new framework has three overarching safeguards:
- Protecting human rights, including ensuring people’s data is used appropriately, their privacy is respected and AI does not discriminate against them.
- Protecting democracy by ensuring countries take steps to prevent public institutions and processes being undermined.
- Protecting the rule of law by putting the onus on signatory countries to regulate AI-specific risks, protect its citizens from potential harms and ensure it is used safely.
The Council of Europe states that the treaty will enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date on which five signatories, including at least three Council of Europe member states, have ratified it. Countries from all over the world will be eligible to join it and commit to complying with its provisions.
Marija Pejčinović Burić, Council of Europe secretary-general, said: “The Framework Convention is an open treaty with a potentially global reach. I hope that these will be the first of many signatures and that they will be followed quickly by ratifications, so that the treaty can enter into force as soon as possible.”
The UK government says it will work closely with regulators, the devolved administrations and local authorities as the convention is ratified to ensure it can appropriately implement its new requirements.
Once the treaty is ratified and brought into effect in the UK, existing laws and measures will be enhanced.
Peter Kyle, the UK’s science, innovation and technology secretary, said: “AI holds the potential to be the driving force behind new economic growth, a productivity revolution and true transformation in our public services, but that ambition can only be achieved if people have faith and trust in the innovations which will bring about that change.
“The convention we’ve signed today alongside global partners will be key to that effort. Once in force, it will further enhance protections for human rights, rule of law and democracy – strengthening our own domestic approach to the technology while furthering the global cause of safe, secure, and responsible AI.”
The UK’s AI Safety Institute (AISI) was launched in November 2023 to measure AI safety risks and equip governments with an empirical understanding of the safety of advanced AI systems. AISI hosted the first AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in November 2023, with a follow-up summit co-hosted in May 2024 in South Korea.
In May 2024, AISI announced it was to open a new office in San Francisco to enable it to tap into global talent on both sides of the Atlantic.
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