PhD defense Mélanie Gornet: From trustworthy AI to technical standards – The distinctive European approach to artificial intelligence regulation
Sorbonne Université, 4 place Jussieu F-75005 Paris and in videoconferencing
Jury
- Céline Castets-Renard, Professor, University of Ottawa (Rapporteure)
- Fabien Tarissan, Research Fellow, CNRS, ENS Paris-Saclay (Rapporteur)
- Jean-Gabriel Ganascia, Professor Emeritus, Sorbonne University (Examiner)
- Irene Kamara, Assistant Professor, Tilburg Law School (Examiner)
- Célia Zolynski, Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Examiner)
- Winston Maxwell, Professor, Télécom Paris (i3) (Supervisor)
- Florence d’Alché-Buc, Professor, Télécom Paris (LTCI) (Co-supervisor)
- Tiphaine Viard, Associate Professor, Télécom Paris (i3) (Co-supervisor)
Abstract
Europe has been at the forefront of Artificial Intelligence (AI) ethics, developing non-binding charters and principles on “trustworthy” AI. The term “trustworthiness” is used by Europe to designate AI systems that are “ethical”, “legal” and “technically robust”. Europe has supplemented these non-binding principles with a binding regulation on AI, known as the AI Act.
… comprehensive frameworks for regulating AI systems across different industries and use cases, focusing on safety and protection of fundamental rights. The AI Act relies, for operational questions, mostly on technical standards that are in the course of development. The European approach thus combines three layers of regulatory instruments: AI ethics charters, the AI Act and technical standards. The standardisation approach is traditional in product safety, but under the AI Act, standards are also expected to address fundamental rights concerns. To avoid making hard normative choices, standardisation organisations are playing it safe, developing standards which remain at a high-level. Moreover, under the AI Act, the responsibility for developing technical standards is delegated to private standardisation bodies, where large multinational companies are over-represented and hold significant influence. These standards are also often locked behind paywalls, although the situation may evolve in the coming years after a recent case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Standardisation experts therefore face pressures to deliver standards on time and of good quality.