The Council of Europe, the continents main human rights body, has announced that the first legally binding international treaty on artificial intelligence will be open for signature Thursday by the countries that negotiated it, including the European Union (EU) member states, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The treaty addresses the risks that artificial intelligence may pose while promoting responsible innovation.
The treaty was being prepared by a special committee that began examining the feasibility of the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence in 2019 before adopting it last May after discussions among 57 countries.
The treaty creates a legal framework that gives AI systems space to promote technological progress and innovation, while ensuring that these systems are not used to undermine human rights, democratic institutions or the rule of law.
The treaty focuses primarily on protecting the rights of those affected by AI systems, and is separate from the EU AI Act, which entered into force last month.
The EU AI Act includes comprehensive regulations on the development, deployment and use of AI systems within the EU internal market