But the European Commission's draft legislation on artificial intelligence, published in April, is anything but luxury. It will apply to any AI system whose recommendation can influence an EU citizen, be that a customer or an employee. Compliance could be complex -- and costly.

Algorithms are increasingly powerful, and researchers have recently been grappling with how they can operate ethically, and effectively, in society. I wrote earlier this year about a fascinating project where researchers had developed an AI capable of explaining its own workings. The researchers developed an algorithm that is not only capable of performing its task, but also translates how it achieved it into reasonably understandable English via a documentation process that is performed at each stage of its work. Despite official attempts to build this into our rules and regulations however, researchers suggest there is still a way to go. A paper, from a team from The Alan Turing Institute, suggests that the EU's General Data Protection Regulation does little to legally mandate tech companies to explain their algorithms. What's more, there are also doubts raised as to just what kind of information may be included when explanations are provided.

Despite official attempts to build this into our rules and regulations however, researchers suggest there is still a way to go. A paper, from a team from The Alan Turing Institute, suggests that the EU's General Data Protection Regulation does little to legally mandate tech companies to explain their algorithms.