Client Alert: Artificial intelligence and GDPR – teaching machines 'fairness'

This week the Chair of the European Parliament's committee on AI expressed concerns about the enforcement of the European Commission's proposed AI rules, which he said could create national fragmentation similar to that seen with the GDPR. So what are the issues involved, what is the proposed new EU law and how does GDPR already regulate AI? At the start of 2020, 42% of companies in the EU said they use technologies that depend on AI, and another 18% of companies said they are planning to use AI in the future (European Enterprise Survey – FRA, 2020). So, this is clearly an area that is justifiably generating considerable activity and interest from both industry and the regulators. It is important to note however that currently the available technologies involve varying levels of complexity, automation and human review and, despite some companies' optimism about their AI capabilities, many applications currently used remain in the development stage.