The First Legally Binding Global AI Treaty: A Historic Step Towards Responsible AI Use

Why Global AI Treaty in news?

• The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom are expected to sign a historic treaty in Vilnius, Lithuani this global AI treaty will be the first legally binding international treaty concerning uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• The recently launched Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law is a giant leap forward in the regulation of AI, seeking to guarantee that AI systems do not violate human rights, interfere with the democratic process or operate beyond the spheres of rule of law.
• This treaty aims at increasing awareness of the risk of mitigation of the misuse of the AI technology while marking a new development on the international regulation of AI.

A Need for Unified Global Regulation

• AI as a technology, has remarkably enhanced social life, job automation, medical research and many more virtual contributions as it has a bundle of concerns for ethical, social and legal concerns.
• With AI being integrated into more facets of the populous’ daily existences, there are augmented prospects for discrimination, privacy invasion as well as negative effects on society at large.
• Governments across the globe have been cryptic in searching for ways to put measures that will govern the use of AI.
• There has been worry over how there is possibility of divergence in the regulation of AI, with different countries adopting different standards different laws that are likely to slow down development of AI and bring in conflicting rules.
• To rise to this challenge the Council of Europe has developed a framework convention of international and legally binding parameters to brainstorm set of guidelines in regard to human rights, democracy and the rule of law in a global platform.

The Scope and Intent of the Treaty

• Created over two years by over 50 countries, the treaty outlines the principles and best practices for designing, building, implementing and retiring Artificial Intelligence systems based on risk management.
• The regulation is different from the previous practices since it blends both the public and private base platforms to create a single international standard that is likely to work uniformly across various geographic domains.
• Countries that sign and ratify the treaty will commit to ensuring their AI systems are:
  • Consistent with obligations to protect human rights: This implies that if the systems are designed then they should not negate the rights to privacy, freedom of speech and other such basic rights of a person.
  • Upholding democratic principles: In view of this, it is unsafe to employ AI in ways that compromise the six pillars of democracy to include integrity, independence, as well as efficiency.
  • Ensuring fairness in public debate: According to the requirements of the mentioned treaty, practices needs to be provided to ensure that AI systems promote the equal right to participate in the public debate so people could express opinions freely without being influenced by the bots.
• Additionally, there are legal remedies provided regarding AI grievance in case of violation of AI related rights and therefore if an individual has suffered discrimination or negative impact from AI products, he or she can seek legal redress.
• This gives it a legal basis which has been missing in prior hence enacting AI regulation.

The Risk-Based Approach

• For this reason, an important feature of the global AI treaty is risk-based approach, which divides AI systems by the level of possible harm.
• It enables the regulators to allow a certain level of autonomy while closely monitoring other levels of autonomy since they might have varying consequences on the systems. For example:
• AI systems designated as high risk, that is those used in areas of law enforcement, health care or critical infrastructure, will require strict regulation to avoid violating human rights or endangering people’s lives.
• The low-risk systems have been defined as those which are likely to have little or no impact upon the rest of society, thus allowing for innovation while reducing the risks involved.
• It works in the direction of enabling AI and technological development while at the same time managing the risky aspects which may be inherent in these innovations.

What Makes This Pact Legally Binding?

• Another important point which is unique in the regulation of AI is that this global AI treaty is a legally non-binding one.
• Unlike previous non-binding accords like the G7 agreement on AI or the Bletchley Declaration, the Framework Convention demands conformity of the member states to its terms that were set out above.
• After ratification the principles spelt in the global AI treaty are binding on the signatories have legal require to incorporate such principles into their legal systems.
• However, there is a worry about the Treaty enforcement hitherto there is no provision for punitive measures like fines or penalties in the Treaty. However, the levels of compliance will be checked through self- assessments and self-reports from the signing member countries. Of course this monitoring mechanism offers some form of check on the company but critics may disagree with this option as an effective tool to discourage non-compliance.
• Despite all these positives, there remains the problem of enforcement where the treaty could degenerate into an entity that exists in papers but lacks the force needed to change the direction that the industry is heading regarding AI.

The Role of Human Rights in AI Regulation

• It goes to human rights protection as one of the key tenets of the treaty. Other social issues that have beset AI systems include bias and inequality including a more recent example of facial recognition technology that was found to advance racial and gender discriminations.
• To address this, the Framework Convention has assumed this by mandating the member countries to guarantee that the AI systems do not infringe on the sovereignty of equality, and privacy.
• In the same respect, the treaty also underlines the point that AI systems cannot be used to disrupt democracy.
• As the threat rises to AI to influence the public opinion for example, through algorithms that spread Fake News or influence the results of the polls, the treaty requires AI systems to facilitate fair and non-misleading conduct of democratic politics.

Global Collaboration: A Unified Approach

• The adoption of the Treaty of Council of Europe’s confirms that for the first time, three AI developers of the US, EU, and the UK for the first time will adopt a common legal framework in regulating Artificial Intelligence.
• This is because such a collaboration helps to avoid emergence of regulatory silos that might dampen innovations or result to legal ambiguities that may be unpalatable to businesses and governments alike.
• By agreeing to certain norms the signatories are creating a basis for a global framework that shall govern the use of the AI technology.
• The treaty also show a developing understanding that AI is a worlds technology with worlds consequences.
• It now evident that AI cannot be effectively regulated by the borders of a single country or region as seen in the development and implementation of AI.
• This task has long been one of the biggest challenges; however, the Framework Convention can be considered as a start for further development of the international cooperation in the field of regulation of Artificial Intelligence.

Concerns and Criticisms of the Treaty

• All in all, the Framework Convention is an historical starting point, but it is not problem free. One weakness of the treaty is the absence of stiff measures of compliance, which include punitive actions against the recalcitrant nations.
• As such, accountability differ with compliance where the later relies on monitoring and reporting only as mechanisms of enforcing law.
• However, it was also noticed that some forms of biotechnology have been excluded from the treaty, for instance the national security interest and the research and development interest.
• Although these reservations may be justified by pragmatic considerations, they allow for the use of artificial intelligence to occur in such a manner that would compromise human rights or erode democracy in these spheres.
• Nonetheless, the treaty has been widely regarded as a right move towards better and responsible governance of the use of Artificial Intelligence.

Conclusion: A Milestone for AI Governance

• The CoE’s Framework Convention for the Protection of AI can be said to represent a breakthrough in the AI regulation.
• This is a powerful indication that through the first legally binding international agreement on AI the international community is starting the work on making sure that this powerful tool is used responsibly and within legal limits and ethical standards.
• As useful as the treaty is, it has its flaws, but sans the treaty, there is no legal means of regulating AI systems and preventing them from undermining human rights, democracy, and rule of law.
• People and governments, companies and NGOs, citizens and organisations have to become aware of what is happening to them and in the world caused by the development of AI.
• Nevertheless, the Framework Convention is the first step in such a journey, and paves the way to construction of a world where AI is created and employed for the betterment of mankind.

FAQs

Q1: What is the Global AI Treaty?
Ans: The Global AI Treaty, officially known as the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law, is the first legally binding international treaty aimed at regulating the use of AI while protecting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

Q2: Who are the key signatories of the Global AI Treaty?
Ans: The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom are among the key players expected to sign the global AI treaty. More than 50 countries participated in drafting the agreement.

Q3: What does the Global AI Treaty aim to achieve?
Ans: The global AI treaty seeks to ensure that AI systems respect human rights, uphold democratic principles, and are used responsibly by both public and private entities. It requires signatories to regulate AI systems to prevent harmful or discriminatory outcomes.

Q4: How will the Global AI Treaty be enforced?
Ans: While the global AI treaty is legally binding, it does not impose punitive sanctions such as fines. Instead, compliance will be ensured through monitoring and reporting mechanisms by signatory countries.