Eva Kaili, MEP and Chair of European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment body (STOA) and Center for Artificial Intelligence, contributed toward the discussion at the AI International Accord Committee:
The datafication of our societies, via the deployment of AI technologies, is transforming the world as we know it and has the power to challenge and dismantle the fundamentals of our democracy. The ongoing technological change far from being deterministic in its nature and effects, needs to be managed in a proactive and people-centric manner. A new social contract is needed to ensure that any multilateral attempt to shape an AI governance framework is inclusive, trustworthy and will enable the net benefits of digital automation and autonomy to be realized and more widely shared. The European Union as an example of a supranational social contract, can serve as a source of policy inspiration for framing a sustainable, democratic and fair AI. With its new AI Act, just like it did with the ambitious GDPR, Europe is setting high standards to protect digital human rights by default, citizens privacy and consumers safety, prohibiting mass surveillance, intrusive monitoring and social scoring practices that could increase inequalities, in aspiration that our democratic ethical principles could be the basis of an international accord on AI.