Artificial Intelligence raises important and urgent issues. AI is already with us – changing the information that we receive, the choices that we make, and the ways in which our societies function. In the coming years AI will play an even greater role in the way that governments and public institutions operate, and the way in which citizens interact and participate in the democratic process.

It is clear that AI presents both benefits and risks. We need to ensure that AI promotes and protects our standards. I look forward to the outcome of the work of the Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI), mandated by the Committee of Ministers to “examine the feasibility and potential elements on the basis of broad multi-stakeholder consultations, of a legal framework for the development, design and application of artificial intelligence, based on the Council of Europe’s standards on human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”

This will be complemented by sector-specific work throughout the Organisation.

The Council of Europe has, on many occasions, demonstrated its ability to pioneer new standards, which have become global benchmarks. We will address AI in this tradition, in a multistakeholder approach with other international organisations, civil society, business and academia.

Marija Pejčinović Burić

Secretary General of the Council of Europe