Council of Europe's Framework Convention on AI and its global implications

The Council of Europe's Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence is the first legally binding international treaty on artificial intelligence, and it sets forth a host of requirements for what future AI legislation in signatory jurisdictions, such as the EU, U.S. or U.K., among others, should look like soon. For those in the EU and those close to the EU AI Act, the convention's requirements will not come as a surprise or additional burden, as the AI Act goes above and beyond. The convention nevertheless holds many clues for what a private enterprise's future regulatory burden might be, even if it is outside the EU's jurisdiction.

The CoE's group of 46 members overlaps the EU's membership and extends to include many other states that share a cultural, political or geographical proximity, such as the U.K., Andorra and Ukraine. The council should not be confused with the European Council and the Council of the European Union, which are parts of the EU. The CoE regularly works on multilateral agreements, often with an eye toward extending and enforcing fundamental human rights.

While members of the council are involved in negotiating conventions, several nonmembers and observing states, such as Argentina and the U.S., are regularly involved in negotiations and can bind themselves to the outcome of the treaty. Past conventions negotiated by the council include the European Convention on Human Rights and Convention 108 on processing personal data. These multilateral agreements have had lasting effects on the party states; the European Court of Human Rights has passed more than 16,000 binding judgments since its establishment in 1959.