[Paper Review] AI Regulation in Europe: From the AI Act to Future Regulatory Challenges

Philipp Hacker|ArXiv.org|Oct 6, 2023

Law, AI, and Intellectual Property16 citations

TL;DR

This chapter analyzes EU AI regulation, contrasts it with the UK's sectoral/self-regulatory approach, and argues for a hybrid strategy with agility and safe harbors, while outlining future regulatory challenges.

ABSTRACT

This chapter provides a comprehensive discussion on AI regulation in the European Union, contrasting it with the more sectoral and self-regulatory approach in the UK. It argues for a hybrid regulatory strategy that combines elements from both philosophies, emphasizing the need for agility and safe harbors to ease compliance. The paper examines the AI Act as a pioneering legislative effort to address the multifaceted challenges posed by AI, asserting that, while the Act is a step in the right direction, it has shortcomings that could hinder the advancement of AI technologies. The paper also anticipates upcoming regulatory challenges, such as the management of toxic content, environmental concerns, and hybrid threats. It advocates for immediate action to create protocols for regulated access to high-performance, potentially open-source AI systems. Although the AI Act is a significant legislative milestone, it needs additional refinement and global collaboration for the effective governance of rapidly evolving AI technologies.

Motivation & Objective

• Assess the European Union's AI regulation landscape and its foundational legislation (the AI Act).
• Contrast EU regulatory approaches with the UK's sectoral and self-regulatory model.
• Argue for a hybrid regulatory strategy combining elements of both philosophies.
• Identify upcoming regulatory challenges and propose mechanisms to facilitate governance of advanced AI technologies.

Proposed method

• Perform a comparative analysis of EU AI regulation and UK approaches.
• Evaluate the AI Act as a pioneering legislative effort and identify its shortcomings.
• Discuss the need for agility, safe harbors, and regulated access to high-performance AI systems.
• Forecast regulatory challenges such as toxic content, environmental concerns, and hybrid threats.
• Propose immediate actions and protocols for access to potentially open-source high-performance AI.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How does EU AI regulation (AI Act) compare to the UK’s regulatory approach in practice?
• RQ2 What are the main shortcomings of the AI Act that could hinder AI advancement?
• RQ3 What regulatory challenges are anticipated for AI governance beyond the AI Act?
• RQ4 What immediate actions or protocols are proposed for regulated access to high-performance AI systems?

Key findings

• The EU’s AI regulation is a pioneering effort but has shortcomings that may impede AI advancement.
• A hybrid regulatory strategy that integrates EU and UK-style approaches is advocated for greater agility.
• Safe harbors and agility are highlighted as mechanisms to ease compliance while maintaining governance.
• Upcoming challenges include management of toxic content, environmental concerns, and hybrid threats.
• There is a call for protocols for regulated access to high-performance, potentially open-source AI systems.