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The European Legislation on AI: A Brief Analysis of Its Philosophical Approach

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The 2021 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab

Part of the book series: Digital Ethics Lab Yearbook ((DELY))

Abstract

On 21 April 2021, the European Commission published the proposal of the new EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA)—one of the most influential steps taken so far to regulate AI internationally. This chapter highlights some foundational aspects of the Act and analyses the philosophy behind its proposal.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_403

  2. 2.

    https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/expert-group-ai

  3. 3.

    https://www.ajmc.com/view/a-timeline-of-covid19-developments-in-2020

  4. 4.

    The quote comes from https://edps.europa.eu/press-publications/press-news/press-releases/2021/artificial-intelligence-act-welcomed-initiative_en

  5. 5.

    https://www.datamation.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-companies/

  6. 6.

    The Commission may have more influnce on the EAIB than it has on the EDPB.

  7. 7.

    A Regulatory Framework for AI: Recommendations for PIPEDA Reform https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/about-the-opc/what-we-do/consultations/completed-consultations/consultation-ai/reg-fw_202011/

  8. 8.

    Aiming for truth, fairness, and equity in your company’s use of AI: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2021/04/aiming-truth-fairness-equity-your-companys-use-ai

  9. 9.

    Joint communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, and the Council—A new EU-US agenda for global change: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/joint-communication-eu-us-agenda_en.pdf

  10. 10.

    https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/opinion/the-eu-is-right-to-refuse-legal-personality-for-artificial-intelligence/

  11. 11.

    https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/RoboticsOpenLetter.pdf

  12. 12.

    https://ec.europa.eu/health/ehealth/dataspace_en

  13. 13.

    I wish to thank Federico Casolari, Joshua Jaffe, Francesca Mazzi, Oreste Pollicino, Huw Roberts, and Paul Timmers for their very helpful feedback on a previous version of this chapter. The chapter is really much better thanks to them and any remaining shortcomings are only mine.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Luciano Floridi

  2. Department of Legal Studies, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Luciano Floridi

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  1. Luciano Floridi
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Correspondence to Luciano Floridi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Jakob Mökander

  2. Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Marta Ziosi

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Floridi, L. (2022). The European Legislation on AI: A Brief Analysis of Its Philosophical Approach. In: Mökander, J., Ziosi, M. (eds) The 2021 Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab. Digital Ethics Lab Yearbook. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09846-8_1

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