Council of Europe Adopts First International Treaty on AI Governance

The Council of Europe adopted "the first-ever international legally binding treaty aimed at ensuring the respect of human rights, the rule of law and democracy legal standards in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems." To safeguard democratic institutions and processes, the treaty obliges parties to "adopt measures to ensure that AI systems are not used to undermine democratic institutions and processes."

The treaty, which is open to both European and non-European countries, "sets out a legal framework that covers the entire lifecycle of AI systems." The Treaty applies to "the use of AI systems in the public sector – including companies acting on its behalf - and in the private sector." When regulating the private sector, the treaty "offers parties two ways of complying with its principles and obligations: parties may opt to be directly obliged by the relevant convention provisions or, as an alternative, take other measures to comply with the treaty's provisions while fully respecting their international obligations regarding human rights, democracy and the rule of law."

The treaty also establishes robust "transparency and oversight requirements tailored to specific contexts and risks, including identifying content generated by AI systems." Parties are required to "adopt measures to identify, assess, prevent, and mitigate possible risks and assess the need for a moratorium, a ban or other appropriate measures concerning uses of AI systems where their risks may be incompatible with human rights standards."

Moreover, the treaty mandates that parties "ensure accountability and responsibility for adverse impacts" caused by AI systems, guarantee that these systems "respect equality, including gender equality, the prohibition of discrimination, and privacy rights," and "ensure the availability of legal remedies for victims of human rights violations related to the use of AI systems and procedural safeguards," such as "notifying any persons interacting with AI systems that they are interacting with such systems."

CAIDP has closely collaborated with the Council of Europe throughout the treaty's development. However, the process was not without controversy. CAIDP President Merve Hickok stated, "CAIDP and its NGO partners raised many objections about the secrecy of the proceedings, the exclusion of NGOs from the drafting committee, and the decision to exempt national security AI systems. Despite these concerns, the finalization of the COE AI Treaty marks a historic moment in AI governance. We welcome these new legal standards and recommend swift adoption by all governments."

CAIDP Europe Director Karine Caunes said, "There is a lot of work ahead. We will urge governments to ratify the AI Treaty with the highest standards possible and to take whatever other steps are necessary to ensure that the Treaty fulfills its purpose."

The framework convention will be opened for signature in Vilnius on 5 September 2024 at the Ministers of Justice conference.