Marion Ho-Dac

Marion Ho-Dac

The EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) came into force in the European Union (EU) on 1 August 2024. It is a key piece of legislation both for the citizens at the heart of AI technologies and for the industry active in the internal market. The AI Act imposes progressive compliance on organisations - both private and public - involved in the global value chain of AI systems and models marketed and used in the EU. While the Act is unprecedented on an international scale in terms of its horizontal and binding regulatory scope, its global appeal in support of trustworthy AI is one of its major challenges.

Marion Ho-Dac

In the European context, both the EU AI Act proposal and the draft Standardisation Request on safe and trustworthy AI link standardisation to fundamental rights. However, these texts do not provide any guidelines that specify and detail the relationship between AI standards and fundamental rights, its meaning or implication. This chapter aims to clarify this critical regulatory blind spot. The main issue tackled is whether the adoption of AI harmonised standards, based on the future AI Act, should take into account fundamental rights. In our view, the response is yes. The high risks posed by certain AI systems relate in particular to infringements of fundamental rights. Therefore, mitigating such risks involves fundamental rights considerations and this is what future harmonised standards should reflect. At the same time, valid criticisms of the European standardisation process have to be addressed. Finally, the practical incorporation of fundamental rights considerations in the ongoing European standardisation of AI systems is discussed.