KI-Camp and AI and cross-border legal challenges

The KI-Camp

Digital technologies have played in the past decades a crescent role in society, that exceeds the computer science field. The vast presence of Big Data and its use on AI systems, require efforts from many areas of knowledge, from computer science to policy, engineering to medicine, or law and the environment. Many experts from these different fields got together at the KI-Camp 2023, to exchange their experiences, researches, applications, and concerns involving artificial intelligence systems.

The context of AI includes the growing and deepening of digitalization, the speed and the variety of technologies based on the internet, or broadly, on information and communication (ICTs). They reflect not just the potential of AI, but also the challenges that it means to current frameworks.

Digital Law and Justice

Among the discussions that happened at KI-Camp, the digital law and justice session reflected on the issues that AI could represent to rights, and social guarantees built by legal and judicial systems worldwide. The rights at stake include but are not limited to, freedom of expression, privacy, access to justice, education, or health systems, innocence presumption, personal data protection, self-determination, and dignity. Even though they are protected by current laws, the technological transformation and the endless possibilities of their development make it necessary to discuss their protection and enforcement in further scenarios.

AI systems are mostly based on Big Data. Therefore, many of the current worries regarding possible rights infringement are around personal data. Even though this is a field already regulated, the discussion at KI-Camp brought up aspects such as the enforcement of personal data protection, the transnational challenges of protecting data being used by multinational businesses and initiatives, and how unbalanced the regulations around the world are.

Perspectives from Europe, Brazil, and India shaped the discussion on the risks of AI in deepening inequalities that persist throughout history, the geopolitical dynamics of colonialism, and development. It is also important to observe the cross-border nature of AI systems, their effects, and the reach of their regulation by different countries. On top of that, how to foster the use of AI to promote human development, face climate change, and increase education, and access to knowledge should also be considered by legal approaches to AI systems.

There is no “one-fits-all”

While Europe works on an AI Act based on risk levels, under the criticism of lacking responsibility to stakeholders that develop and apply AI systems, the effectiveness of personal data protection and its use of AI still represents concerns, even under the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU. Meanwhile, India and Brazil struggle with the importation of AI technology, and also regulatory approaches, which come from the Global North and do not necessarily correspond to the population subjected to it.

The data protection framework, including transparency, liability regimes, and the protection against discrimination and negative effects of technologies and automated decisions, represents the starting point for AI regulation and the role of Law in addressing inequalities and preventing rights violations. However, further obligations, principles, and approaches need to correspond to the increasing impact that AI might have on society. This is why a broader framework, that includes awareness, public engagement, education of developers, and arising public criticism about technology is also very much needed. Law, by itself, is an important tool to shape the future of AI systems and their uses but needs to be sustained by other social structures.

Personal data protection and AI regulation are ongoing and long-term efforts. Legal and judicial approaches are being developed, but public engagement is crucial to bring regulations to life. As we wrapped up the discussion on the Ki-Camp and stated by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, a Brazilian poet: “The lilies are not born from laws”.

This piece is a summary of the discussion on KI-CAMP 2023 on the Digital Law and Justice session which counted with Rainer Mühlhoff, University of Osnabrück, Noah Schöppl, Bundestag ALLAI, and Alpan Raval, Wadhwani AI as speakers, with the moderation of the author. It just reflects the impressions and opinions of the author, and does not reflect any other participants’ points of view.