Steering the Course: Implications of the EU AI Act on AI Systems within Parliaments
Written on July, 2023
Introduction
As artificial intelligence continues its rapid advancement and broad adoption, the implications of the EU AI Act on parliamentary operations come to the forefront. The Act has potential to reshape the use of AI tools within parliaments, setting a new course for their integration in various processes and functions. This could mark a significant change in the way parliaments operate and engage with technology.
High-Risk Applications and Human Rights Impact Assessment
The Act's current draft categorises a majority of parliamentary AI applications under the 'high-risk applications' banner. This designation requires parliaments to create strategic task forces to assess the impact of AI applications on human rights and to implement extensive risk management protocols. Alongside this, there's a need to undertake comprehensive impact assessments. The Act emphasises the need for thorough documentation of these processes, underscoring the imperative for transparency and accountability.
Such regulatory measures shine a spotlight on a critical aspect of AI use: the potential risks to human rights. They encourage proactive navigation of these potential issues and call for parliaments to establish task forces dedicated to this cause.
Promoting Interoperability and Standards
The Act underscores the importance of standards in the governance of AI. These standards, presently under review in organisations such as the International Organization for Standardization, can mitigate risks, improve interoperability, and encourage technology neutrality. As such, standards serve as essential protective measures, promoting the use of more universal and accessible technology solutions.
Certification of AI Systems
The Act proposes the introduction of certification for AI systems, paralleling the certification processes for goods and services in sectors such as automotive, chemical, and energy. The notion of a certification process could encourage parliaments to adopt a certification-centric approach to software use. This could be transformative in terms of maintaining software quality and ensuring its ethical deployment.
Temporal Modelling and Legislative AI Application
The Act accentuates the necessity for temporal modelling in legislative applications of AI. Legislation and its relevance can fluctuate over time, thus the importance of a temporal model in AI systems cannot be overstated. Without such a model, there's an increased risk of inaccurate predictions and spurious correlations. By prioritising temporal modelling, the Act stresses the significance of context and time-bound validity of laws and regulations, thus enhancing the precision and pertinence of AI-supported analyses and predictions.
Conclusion
Although not yet fully enacted, the EU AI Act offers both opportunities and challenges for the production and utilisation of AI systems within parliaments. It underscores the necessity for robust risk analysis, standards for interoperability, product certification, and the inclusion of temporal models. Despite the complexity of these considerations, the Act encourages parliaments to delve deeper into their engagement with AI, fostering preparedness and proactive strategy formulation.
Much like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Act may necessitate an extended adjustment period for stakeholders. However, its very existence symbolises a significant move towards a more responsible, ethical, and effective use of AI, not only in parliaments but across diverse sectors. The ongoing development of the Act presents an opportunity for stakeholders to influence, anticipate, and prepare for the changes it heralds.