The High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) set up by the European Commission published on 26 June 2019 the document “Policy and investments recommendations for trustworthy AI”. The publication highlights some of the recommendations expressed by COMECE in its previous contribution to the “Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI”.
AI robot tutor helping a student with homework, they are sitting on the couch. (Photo: Stock-Asso/Shuttertock)
COMECE welcomes the emphasis on the protection on “humans, sustainable growth, […] education and appropriate governance and regulatory framework” contained in the document, which also encourages the European Commission and stakeholders to adapt EU Law to the challenges posed by the developing reality of Artificial Intelligence.
The document of the Expert Group includes a clear statement against the establishment of legal personality for AI systems or robots, as suggested by COMECE in its April 2017 contribution to a public consultation on Civil Law rules on robotics.
The document calls for EU Member States to participate in the ongoing international debate on restricting the development of automated lethal weapons (LAWS), inviting military and non-military scientists and academics, as well as AI experts, to join the debate on a possible moratorium on the development of offensive LAWS.
In this regard, in July 2019, COMECE published the reflection paper “Technology at the service of peace”, providing recommendations to the EU and its Member States on how to address the (mis-)use of force through “uncrewed armed systems”.
