In April 2019, the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) published a first set of Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI. These will now be piloted by public and private organisations across Europe until early 2020, with the aim to understand, inter alia, to which extent these should be tailored to different sectors and use cases. In the meantime, questions arise whether the implementation of such guidelines by companies and other entities can create legally enforceable rights. Moreover, several voices are questioning the role that such guidelines can play as a complement to existing regulations, arguing that, instead, more tangible duties should be introduced through “hard law”. In June 2019, the same Expert Group complemented its guidelines with AI policy recommendations, indicating a number of areas where such hard law may be desirable, which are expected to inspire potential regulatory action by the new Commission.
This seminar will discuss the AI governance measures adopted in the EU – in particular the Ethics Guidelines and Policy Recommendations mentioned above – and whether such measures are appropriate to meet the concerns raised by AI. It will then be discussed whether any (and, if so, which) concrete legal implications the implementation of ethics guidelines will have on businesses and whether this may open the way to new forms of litigation. Particular focus will be given to the impact on day-to-day compliance in selected business sectors, and to the legal claims that companies and other entities may face by private and public parties.
Time: 12:00 - 14:00 (lunch is included)
Venue: U-Residence, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussel (Access also via Generaal Jacqueslaan 271, 1050 Brussels)
Registration: The event is free to attend, but due to limited capacity, registration is required. Online registration will be available in due course here, please contact info@brusselsprivacyhub.eu.