Together with 120 civil society organisations on ECNL calls for an EU Artificial Intelligence Act, which foregrounds fundamental rights.
The statement, drafted by European Digital Rights (EDRi), Access Now, Panoptykon Foundation, epicenter.works, AlgorithmWatch, European Disability Forum (EDF), Bits of Freedom, Fair Trials, PICUM, and ANEC, outlines central recommendations to guide the European Parliament and Council of the European Union in amending the European Commission’s AI Act proposal.
The signatories call for:
- A cohesive, flexible and future-proof approach to the ‘risk’ of AI systems;
- Prohibitions on all AI systems posing an unacceptable risk to fundamental rights;
- Obligations on users of (i.e. those deploying) high-risk AI systems to facilitate accountability to those impacted by AI systems;
- Consistent and meaningful public transparency;
- Meaningful rights and redress for people impacted by AI systems;
- Accessibility throughout the AI life-cycle;
- Sustainability and environmental protections when developing and using AI systems;
- Improved and future-proof standards for AI systems;
- A truly comprehensive AI Act that works for everyone.
AI systems are increasingly being used in all areas of public life. However, the lack of adequate regulation on the development and deployment of AI-powered technology poses a threat to our digital and human rights. In Europe, we have already witnessed the negative impact of AI when governed incorrectly. For example, discriminative AI uses at the border have facilitated the deportation of people on the move and denied them access to vital services such as health-care and social security. We have also seen how the use of predictive policing systems has led to increased over-policing of racialised communities, and how poor, working-class and migrant areas are being wrongfully targeted by fraud detection systems. The use of facial recognition and similar systems have been used across Europe in ways that lead to biometric mass surveillance.
By fostering mass surveillance and amplifying some of the deepest societal inequalities and power imbalances, AI systems are putting our fundamental rights and democratic processes and values at great risk. That is why the European Union institutions' proposal for an AI Act is a globally significant step.
The AI Act must address the structural, societal, political and economic impacts of the use of AI. This will ensure that the law is future-proof, and prioritises the protection of fundamental rights.