The European Commission has proposed new rules to help people affected by artificial intelligence (AI) products and digital devices.
The AI Liability Directive will reduce the burden of proof for people suing over incidents involving such products. Self-driving cars, voice assistants and search engines may fall under the Directive. Experts argue that this will create a legal framework that fits the digital age.
If passed, the Commission's rules could work alongside the EU's proposed Artificial Intelligence Act - the first law of its kind to set limits on how and when AI systems can be used.
Artificial intelligence systems "learn" from large amounts of data or information to enable machines to perform tasks that are considered the work of human intelligence.
The AI Liability Directive introduces a "presumption of causation". This means that victims do not have to untangle complex AI systems to prove their case, if a causal link to the performance of the AI product and the resulting harm can be shown.
For a long time, social networks have been cloaked in the disclaimer that they are simply platforms for other people's content and therefore are not responsible for content. Today, the EU does not want a repeat of this scenario, where companies that produce, for example, drones, can go out of control if they cause harm just because their product is a drone and not AI elements.
The directive is clear: if your product is designed to cause inconvenience or harm, then you need to take responsibility if that happens.
Today there is an opinion that the provisions of the Directive are cruel to a new industry, because if a car crashes due to the mechanics inside the vehicle, it depends on the manufacturer, and the behavior of the driver in this case is another matter. If this project is adopted, all attention will be directed to the first test case, which will show whether "big regulation" of big technologies is realistic in principle.
According to the European Commission, high-risk uses of AI may involve infrastructure or products that could directly affect someone's life and livelihood. Disclosure of information about such products will allow victims to better understand the responsibility of their use.
While such provisions in the directive may cause displeasure in business, Sarah Cameron, technology legal director at law firm Pinsent Masons, said the rules helped clarify liability for AI-enabled products for both consumers and businesses.
"The main obstacle to the adoption of artificial intelligence by enterprises has been the complexity, autonomy and opacity (the so-called "black box effect") of AI, which create uncertainty about the establishment of liability", - believes Sarah Cameron - The proposal ensures that when systems malfunction and cause physical harm or loss of data, compensation may be sought from the AI system provider or any manufacturer that integrates the AI system into another product.”
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Dzhuliia Korendiuk
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