The European Union AI laws – which leaders finally announced had been agreed at nearly midnight on Saturday – are on track to entirely overshadow Britain’s six-week-old Bletchley declaration on artificial intelligence. The text of the agreement on a suite of comprehensive laws to regulate AI is not finalised, and many devils will be found in the details, but its impending arrival signals a sea change in how democracy can steer AI towards the public interest.
The Bletchley declaration was a huge achievement, especially for bringing countries such China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to agree on a formal statement about AI regulation. The problem is that it was just that: a statement, with no legal power or enforcement mechanism. Now the EU is taking action to impose firm legal requirements on the developers of artificial intelligence, it’s up to other countries to step up and complete the puzzle.
