The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have signed the first “legally binding” treaty on ai, which is supposed to ensure that its use is aligned with “human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” according to ai-for-signature”>to the Council of Europe.
The treaty, called Framework Convention on artificial intelligenceestablishes key principles ai systems must meet certain standards, such as protecting user data, respecting the law, and being transparent about practices. Each country that signs the treaty must “adopt or maintain appropriate legislative, administrative or other measures” that reflect the framework.
Andorra, Georgia, Iceland, Norway, the Republic of Moldova, San Marino and Israel also signed the framework, which has been in preparation since 2019.
In recent months, we have seen a number of other ai-Commitments-September-2023.pdf”>ai Security Agreements emerge, but most have no consequences for signatories who fail to honour their commitments. Although this new treaty is supposed to be “legally binding”, he Financial time points out that “compliance is measured primarily through monitoring, which is a relatively weak form of enforcement.”
“We must ensure that the rise of ai respects our standards, rather than undermining them,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić in a statement. “The Framework Convention is designed to ensure precisely that. It is a robust and balanced text, the result of an open and inclusive approach.” The treaty will enter into force three months after five signatories ratify it.
