AI features in European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee discussions

The Legal Affairs Committee in the European Parliament has discussed three draft reports tackling issues related to artificial intelligence (AI): intellectual property rights for the development of AI technologies; a framework of ethical aspects of AI, robotics, and related technologies; and a potential civil liability regime for AI. According to Euractiv, contentious issues addressed during the debates have included a proposal for the creation of an EU agency responsible for overseeing compliance with future AI ethical principles; the lack of consistency in key definitions related to AI across the draft reports; and a proposal that strict liability rules should be placed on deployers or users of AI technology. The draft reports are to be further debated in the committee in June 2020, and a plenary vote is expected for October 2020.