Vulcan Insight | EU wants to make it easier to sue artificial intelligence

The European Commission’s latest attempt to regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and set a global standard when it comes to controlling the rapidly developing technology includes the AI Liability Directive (which is not to be confused with the EU’s AI Act).

With these new rules, the Commission wants to better protect private individuals and companies from “damage” caused by AI by bringing the system of product liability up to date, with tech products in particular being included, such as autonomous drones and cars. However, the companies concerned fear excessive restrictions on an important future technology. Others may see the AI Liability Directive as an important and much needed power shift away from companies and towards consumers.

Specifically, the legislative initiative should reduce the burden of proof for people who claim to have been injured by products that use artificial intelligence and give them more chances of success in those claims for damages. In this way, confidence in new technologies should also be strengthened, the Commission announced. To this end, existing guidelines are to be revised and combined with the regulations for artificial intelligence.

According to a Commission press release, the current EU regulations on product liability are almost 40 years old and need to be modernised. “This is about providing legal certainty for businesses and ensuring consumers are well protected in case something goes wrong,” the statement said. There should be uniform rules for this, which enable consumers to access information, for example. This should give injured parties the right to view data and logs on the AI ​​and use them as evidence.

In addition, with the new regulation, providers of AI would have to prove in the event of damage that their technology was not responsible for the incident. Appropriate protection standards for EU citizens are the basis for consumer confidence and thus for successful innovations, said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, and added: “New technologies like drones or delivery services operated by AI can only work when consumers feel safe and protected.”

The Vice-President for Values ​​and Transparency, Věra Jourová, said: “With today’s proposal on AI civil liability we give customers tools for remedies in case of damage caused by AI so that they have the same level of protection as with traditional technologies and we ensure legal certainty for our internal market.”

Next steps will be for the Commission’s proposal to be approved by the European Parliament and EU countries.

Compliments of Vulcan Consulting – a member of the EACCNY.