The Council of Europe in partnership with the Defender of Rights implemented the second edition of the course “AI and discriminations” from October to mid-December 2022.

The second edition of the course took into account the previous work done, the feedback and suggestions received from the partners and participants, as well as the most recent developments in the field of AI governance, including regulation, standards, practices and discussions. The course attracted some 70 participants (online and in-person) including staff of the Defender of Rights, the CNIL, digitalisation officers at various ministries as well as civil society, out of which 51 have completed it successfully.

The participants got an overview of the current issues and challenges that AI and automated decision-making can pose to human rights, discussed the current and future European regulations and standards, case studies, best practices and explored potential follow-up initiatives. The course was organised in 4 online modules exploring the basics of AI, the anti-discrimination legislation in France and the European standards as well, cases of discrimination or biases caused by AI or automated decision-making, and the potential for new regulation in this area.

In 2021, the Council of Europe in collaboration with the Defender of Rights (French ombudsoffice), has developed an online training course on artificial intelligence and discrimination, initially intended for staff of the Defender of Rights and the CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés). This training course was based on current and future European regulations and standards, case studies, best practices, and replicated the curricula from the UK course ran a year before. The course allowed also for a discussion on the objectives and methods of cooperation between the various regulators in this area. In France, the Defender of Rights which is mandated to fight against all forms of discrimination, including when they are the result of algorithms, in partnership with the CNIL, has already had the opportunity to take a public stand on these issues, and has also initiated an intensive dialogue with various European partners, including the Council of Europe.

This training course was held online from 9 June - 9 July 2021 and was opened for staff of the two national partners who were interested to learn about discrimination in connection with artificial intelligence and to understand the main issues in their area of work. Some 87 people registered and 56 completed the training and received a certificate.

In 2020, the Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Division piloted an online training course which aimed to improve awareness and capacity to partake and respond to AI / ADM as a source of discrimination. The course for equality bodies and other regulators was prepared and implemented in co-operation with the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CEDI), as the first online training course on ‘AI & Discrimination’ for regulators in the United Kingdom (December 2020-February 2021). The course introduced European regulations and standards, case studies, good practices, and engaged a discussion about goals and methods of cross sectorial co-operation between regulators in this field.