European Parliament committee adopts guidelines for military and non-military use of AI

The Legal Affairs Committee in the European Parliament has adopted a set of guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for military purposes and in the health and justice sectors. The guidelines point to the need to ensure that human dignity and human rights are respected and that AI systems are subject to meaningful human control. The ultimate responsibility for AI systems should rest with humans. Lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) should only be used as a last resort and be deemed lawful only if subject to human control. When it comes to the use of AI in healthcare, protection needs to be ensured for patients; personal data and the principle of equal treatment must be upheld. The use of AI in the justice sector must be accompanied by safeguards to protect the interests of citizens: they should always be informed if they are subject to a decision based on AI. Moreover, final court decisions must be taken by humans and not left to AI systems. The guidelines also called for a ban on the use of highly intrusive social scoring applications by public authorities. The document is expected to be discussed in the European Parliament plenary in January 2021.