At the Intersection of Technology, Law, and Business
March 23, 2020 - Artificial Intelligence, European Union

Changing the Safety and Liability Rules on AI – What is the European Commission planning?

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A White Paper on Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the European Commission provides insight on how governments might change product safety and liability rules to address the issues arising from AI systems.

Five years ago, the European Commission (EC) established a key policy agenda designed to deliver significant legal changes to the “Digital Single Market” by 2019.  That agenda led to a series of material regulatory changes across the EU.

Now, the EC has established the creation of a “Europe fit for the digital age” as a key political goal and has published a series of documents intended to shape Europe’s digital future.  Two of these documents relate to AI systems: a white paper titled “On Artificial Intelligence – A European approach to excellence and trust” and a report on the safety and liability implications for AI, the Internet of Things and robotics (the “Reports”).

Among other issues, the Reports discuss new proposals for changing the regulatory framework on product safety and liability in the EU to address the changes brought by AI systems.

Read our client alert in which we explore:

  • The current European rules on product safety and liability;
  • Recommendations established by the European Commission in relation to AI product safety and liability; and
  • The actions that organizations should take in response to these recommendations.