BRUSSELS – Today, global tech trade association ITI released recommendations on the EU’s pending white paper on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, and Commissioner Thierry Breton. In its recommendations, ITI underscores Europe’s unique opportunity to become a global leader in AI and offers key steps for policymakers to address the economic and social implications of technology and the role of the tech industry in a manner that supports innovation, while safeguarding the public and individual interests at stake.

“The upcoming AI white paper will be a milestone for Europe’s regulatory vision on how to advance innovation and help European companies thrive, while simultaneously addressing public concerns around technological advancement,” ITI’s President and CEO Jason Oxman wrote to the leaders. “ITI and its members share the firm belief that building trust in the era of digital transformation is essential. We strongly believe it is important to preserve an enabling environment for innovation to ensure Europe’s global competitiveness and security. Our industry acknowledges Europe’s vision on creating a trustworthy AI for Europe that builds around a human-centric approach, and we want to be a constructive partner in realising this vision.”

The tech industry is aware of and addressing the main challenges with AI, including the need to mitigate bias, inequity, and other potential harms in automated decision-making systems. The tech industry also shares the goal of responsible AI use and development. To that end, ITI offers policymakers the following considerations for the EU’s AI White Paper:

  • It is crucial for Europe to not only look at the potential harms of using AI, but also consider the potential social harms of limiting the use of AI, which may decrease its positive impact on our communities.
  • The EU should further the ethical development and use of AI globally by cooperating with its international partners and recognise the importance of shared common values like trust, fairness, explainability, effectiveness, safety, and human oversight.
  • Assessing the need for upgrading the existing EU regulatory framework to enable AI to fulfil its potential in Europe is crucial to identify what legislative gaps exist and extent and manner in which any such gaps should be filled.
  • A balanced framework for responsible use of data is key, as the success of many promising uses of AI will depend to a large extent on the availability of training data. Stringent obligations for data quality and traceability should take into account the significant limitations on the availability of datasets sufficient to train AI systems.
  • Context is key in identifying appropriate policies. Approaches must be context- and risk-specific and should take into account that not all applications require an all-encompassing fundamental rights-based approach.
  • Prioritise an effective and balanced liability regime. AI presents great opportunities for society in different fields yet raises valid concerns around responsible and safe deployment. The clarification of rules around liability will have to take into account the legal and technical specificity of different use cases.

Read ITI’s recommendations here.

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