The United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union are expected to sign the first legally binding international treaty on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to today’s report from the Financial Times.
The three parties are set to sign today the Council of Europe’s AI convention, which the British newspaper adds has been in the works for more than two years by over 50 countries, including Canada, Israel, Japan, and Australia.
The US is “committed to ensuring that AI technologies support respect for human rights and democratic values” and sees “the significant added value of the Council of Europe in this area,” a senior official in the Biden administration told the newspaper.
“It is the first (agreement) that is truly binding globally and also brings together a group of very diverse countries,” said British Technology Minister Peter Kyle, according to the report.
The Council of Europe’s AI framework treaty, which addresses issues of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, was drafted by the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI).
The CAI finalized the draft of the convention in March. The treaty was subsequently adopted on May 17 by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers and is set to be opened for signatures today, September 5, in Vilnius.