Europe May Need Agency for Artificial Intelligence, Germany Says

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union may need an agency for regulating artificial intelligence to bolster consumer trust in the technology and help realize its economic potential, a German government official said.

Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht made the comment to a European Parliament committee in Brussels on Tuesday while presenting priorities for Germany’s six-month presidency of the 27-nation EU through December. She cited “a great deal of skepticism” by consumers about data processing linked to AI.

“A uniform legal framework for artificial intelligence is very important,” Lambrecht told the committee via video conference. “Whether there we perhaps need a European solution through a European agency potentially with enforcement capacity -- for AI I think that would certainly be a suggestion that’s worth thinking about.”

The EU aims to be among the first major jurisdictions to regulate artificial intelligence, with users and developers of AI systems in fields such as health, policing and transport facing the possibility of legal requirements including tests by authorities before deployment.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is due to make a legislative proposal on AI as soon as the end of the year.

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