Artificial intelligence: European Commission seeks feedback on draft ethics guidelines

The European Commission published the first draft of its ethics guidelines for the development and use of artificial intelligence.

The document articulates a framework to ensure that artificial intelligence respects fundamental rights, applicable regulation and core principles, and that the technology is technically robust and reliable. It is addressed to all stakeholders developing, deploying and using artificial intelligence, including universities.

The draft guidelines were developed by the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence appointed in June to support the implementation of the European Strategy on Artificial Intelligence published in April. EUA is represented in the Expert Group by Professor Thomas Metzinger, expert in theoretical philosophy at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany.

EUA encourages universities to provide input on the draft guidelines through an online survey open until 1 February 2019. In March, the final guidelines will be presented to the Commission, which will analyse them and propose how to take this work forward.