In the face of polluting data centres, harmful social media algorithms, and discriminatory automated decision making systems, the European Union has put a swathe of new regulations in place to rein in AI and its use (and abuse) by big tech, governments and employers: The Artificial Intelligence Act, the first global attempt to comprehensively regulate AI; the Digital Markets Act, aimed at addressing tech companies’ market power; and the Digital Services Act, which regulates platforms. Alongside Europe’s existing equalities, rights and consumer and worker protection legislation, these and other initiatives have created a new set of tools to challenge harms caused by the use of AI and set precedents for responsible innovation that benefits people and society.
Public interest advocates, including European AI & Society Fund grantees, achieved significant victories during the development of these laws, such as prohibitions on the most harmful uses of AI in the AI Act. But with powerful corporate lobbying and the realpolitik of European Union wrangling, the final legislation doubtless falls short in many aspects. For instance the AI Act allows companies to self-determine the degree of risk their products pose. Nonetheless this legislation presents a new opportunity to achieve some degree of new accountability over AI technologies. But only if the rules are enforced and implemented robustly.