Governing through Standards: Artificial Intelligence and Values

Description

The upcoming European Union’s regulation on Artificial Intelligence
(AI), known as the AI Act, has opened the door for the European Commission to
request the development of supporting AI harmonised standards by European
Standardisation Organisations (ESOs). The standardisation request will identify
the areas in which ESOs are to develop standards based on the essential
requirements in the AI Act. The current draft standardisation request establishes
that deliverables are to take into account the policy objectives of the commission,
such as ensuring that AI systems are in respect of Union values. For ESOs, this
task is complicated by the diversified world-wide network of standards-developing
organisations and working groups in AI. We examine the state of the art in AI
standardisation, analyse how standards embed values and identify an approach
that accommodates different sets of values. While currently, there is no harmonised
approach to embed value consideration in AI standardisation, there is potential for
an approach geared toward flexibility with space for different configurations. In
the EU, the value of freedom as movement builds the basis and the need for flexible
standards that enhance interoperability between regulatory contexts with different
sets of values. In global terms, there is a need for a minimum threshold of agreed-upon values within AI standards that allow different configurations based on
specific regulatory contexts.

Aikajakso	21 kesäk. 2024
Pidetty	Tietotekniikan laitos
Tunnustuksen arvo	International