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Source-This post on AI convention has been created based on the article “An overview of Europe’s AI convention” published in “The Hindu” on 27 May 2024.
Why in News?
Global governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing more complex as countries adopt diverse methods like laws and executive orders to regulate it domestically. In such backdrop, recently the Council of Europe (COE) made a significant advancement by adopting the AI convention.
Council of Europe (COE is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1949 with 46 members.
About Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law
1. The Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law was adopted by the Council of Europe (COE) on 17 May 2024 and will be available for signature from 5 September 2024.
2. This framework convention is a legally binding treaty that sets out broad commitments and mechanisms for achieving them.
3. Core Principles: It ensures AI activities throughout their lifecycle comply with human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
4. Application: It covers AI operations by both public authorities and private actors, emphasizing conformity with the convention’s objectives.
5. Exemptions: Articles provide broad exemptions for national security, research, development, testing, and defense. The convention does not specifically regulate military applications of AI, reflecting the complexities and lack of global consensus on such regulation.
6. General Obligations and Broader Implications
a) Human Rights and Democracy: It requires protection of human rights and integrity of democratic processes (Articles 4 and 5).
b) Additional Provisions: Although not specifically addressing disinformation or deepfakes it encourages actions against such threats under general obligations.
7. Importance and Impact of the AI Convention
a) Reaffirming Existing Rights: It asserts that existing human and fundamental rights must be protected in the AI context.
b) Governmental Responsibility: It emphasizes the role of governments in implementing effective remedies and procedural safeguards.
c) Comprehensive Approach: It aims to mitigate risks associated with AI use, particularly important as technology advances faster than policy can adapt.
UPSC Syllabus: International law and International relations, science and technology
