Tackling problems, harvesting benefits -- A systematic review of the regulatory debate around AI
This work provides a structured overview of regulatory proposals for AI, addressing policymakers and researchers, but it is incremental as it synthesizes existing literature without introducing new methods or data.
This systematic review analyzed 73 peer-reviewed articles from 2016-2020 to examine the academic debate on AI regulation, focusing on societal risks, regulatory responsibilities, and policy frameworks, and compared these findings with the proposed European AI regulation to highlight its approach and implications.
How to integrate an emerging and all-pervasive technology such as AI into the structures and operations of our society is a question of contemporary politics, science and public debate. It has produced a considerable amount of international academic literature from different disciplines. This article analyzes the academic debate around the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). The systematic review comprises a sample of 73 peer-reviewed journal articles published between January 1st, 2016, and December 31st, 2020. The analysis concentrates on societal risks and harms, questions of regulatory responsibility, and possible adequate policy frameworks, including risk-based and principle-based approaches. The main interests are proposed regulatory approaches and instruments. Various forms of interventions such as bans, approvals, standard-setting, and disclosure are presented. The assessments of the included papers indicate the complexity of the field, which shows its prematurity and the remaining lack of clarity. By presenting a structured analysis of the academic debate, we contribute both empirically and conceptually to a better understanding of the nexus of AI and regulation and the underlying normative decisions. A comparison of the scientific proposals with the proposed European AI regulation illustrates the specific approach of the regulation, its strengths and weaknesses.