The agreement by European Institutions on the so-called “Artificial Intelligence Act” includes a few worthwhile provisions, even though it falls short of the “gold standard” that we, and other civil society organisations, hoped for.
We join other civil society organisations in their preliminary analysis of the Act as not going far enough to fully protect human rights. We do note that a partial victory has been achieved in terms of accessibility for persons with disabilities, as high-risk Artificial Intelligence systems will have to meet requirements for accessibility. This is an important inclusion, and we welcome that it has made into the final agreement.
The European Disability Forum will develop supporting materials to guide our member organisations on the implementation of the AI Act.
Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability Forum, said:
Artificial intelligence can pose significant risks to persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups if it is not properly regulated. The AI Act addresses human rights, but not as comprehensively as we hoped for– we now call on the European Union to close this gap with future initiatives.
Related documents
- Artificial Intelligence and Disability Newsletter
- Disability Inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) project
Contacts
André Félix
Communications Coordinator
Kave Noori
Artificial Intelligence Policy Officer