At Pour Demain, we are making full use of our official observer status at the Council of Europe’s Committee on AI (CAI), which is currently drafting a framework convention on AI, human rights, democracy and the rule of law (consolidated working draft available here). One way in which we are doing this is by submitting written comments and recommendations that the CAI secretariat calls for in the lead-up to meetings.
The Committee brings together the 46 member states, as well as observer states, including the United States, Canada, Israel, Japan and Mexico. Observers include various civil society organisations as well as representatives of the private sector and of other international and regional organisations such as the EU, the UN, the OECD and the OSCE.
Our contributions so far have focused on the following main points:
Inclusion of public and private sector actors in the convention’s scope
Consideration of recent developments, including dealing with rapidly advancing general purpose AI capabilities
Mechanisms for periodic reviews of AI systems’ compliance with national supervisory authorities
Risk management: work with external researchers and auditors where appropriate
Informed citizen consent for use of personal data
We look forward to upcoming plenary meetings in Strasbourg, and will continue to advocate for an AI convention which keeps citizens and human rights front and centre.