EC Library Guide on artificial intelligence, ethics, bias and fairness: Selected publications
Selected EU publications
- Adopt AI study – Final study report
European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT), 2024.
A study commissioned by the European Commission highlights the significant potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve public sector services across the EU. The report emphasizes that AI can enhance citizen-government interactions, boost analytical capabilities, and increase efficiency in key areas such as healthcare, mobility, e-Government, and education. These sectors are identified as among the most ready for large-scale AI deployment, with applications ranging from autonomous vehicles and smart traffic systems to AI-driven healthcare solutions and education technologies.
However, the study also outlines several challenges hindering AI uptake in the public sector. These include complex public procurement processes, difficulties in data management, a lack of regulatory clarity, and concerns about bias in AI decision-making. In response, the report provides a series of policy recommendations aimed at accelerating AI adoption. These include increasing funding and resources for AI in public services, ensuring transparency and accountability in AI systems, promoting cross-border data sharing, and aligning industry and public sector expectations. The European Commission is advised to create a clear regulatory framework for AI, prioritise long-term implementation, and foster human-centric, trustworthy AI solutions. By addressing these challenges, the EU aims to position itself as a global leader in the development of trustworthy and sustainable AI technologies for the public sector.
- AI-based solutions for legislative drafting in the EU – Summary report
European Commission: Directorate-General for Digital Services, Fitsilis, F. and Mikros, G., AI-based solutions for legislative drafting in the EU – Summary report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
This publication provides an overview of the results of a European Union (EU) funded study entitled “Overview of smart functionalities in drafting legislation in LEOS”. The full study has been published on the European Commission's (EC) Joinup platform and centres on the concept of smart functionalities in law-making, i.e., advanced Information (and Communication) Technologies (I[C]T) services that assist legal drafters and policy developers in their daily work. The underlying research was conducted in view of the development of an “augmented LEOS”, an open-source solution developed by the EC for drafting legislation.
The work draws on the results of a 2022 study on “Drafting legislation in the era of AI and digitisation”, referred to as the reference study. The present study offers a thorough examination of various development steps of the "augmented LEOS" system. It confirms, updates, and expands upon the findings of the reference study. Moreover, it provides a detailed assessment of the business value associated with the proposed smart functionalities. The prioritisation of these functionalities is carried out based on their perceived business value. Furthermore, the study conducts an in-depth investigation into the implementation of these functionalities, addressing their deployment. Additionally, recognising the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs), the study explores their utilisation in drafting legislation. In this context, potential implications and applications of LLMs in the legislative processes are analysed. Finally, the study suggests a high-level framework and roadmap for further work, outlining the necessary steps and milestones for the successful realisation of the augmented LEOS system.
- AI report – By the European Digital Education Hub’s Squad on artificial intelligence in education
European Commission: European Education and Culture Executive Agency, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.
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We have seen in the previous discussion and scenarios that AI has the potential to deliver great benefits for education. However, we have also seen that there are also risks associated with its use. In many cases, we may determine that these are minimal risk. Examples we’ve discussed include the provision of formative feedback, help for teachers in creating lesson plans, and assistance in some of the administrative functions of schools. As we move away from the use of AI as a support system, so the risk increases. As we have seen, using AI for learning analytics may help teachers adjust their teaching strategies to cater to individual needs.
However, using learning analytics without adequate teacher oversight may disadvantage students dealing with adverse life circumstances that are impacting their performance, thus increasing the risk level. When it comes to relying on AI for decisions that may impact a learner’s future opportunities, we are moving into the ‘high’ and perhaps ‘unacceptable’ risk territories. Therefore, we can see that the level of risk resides not so much within the tool as within the contexts in which they are used. While human oversight may help to mitigate some of the risks, we should be aware of the danger of dependence lock-in, in which humans become increasingly dependent to AI to make decisions. All this underscores the importance of the development of Explainable AI, as discussed above. In order to ensure its responsible use in educational settings, it is important to remain ever aware of the balance that needs to be struck between leveraging AI’s benefits and evaluating and mitigating potential risks and ensuring that human oversight is included and human values are served.
- Annual report 2023 – European Data Protection Supervisor
European Data Protection Supervisor, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) is the European Union’s independent data protection authority responsible for supervising the processing of personal data by the European institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (EUIs). We advise EUIs on new legislative proposals and initiatives related to the protection of personal data. We monitor the impact of new technologies on data protection and cooperate with supervisory authorities to ensure the consistent enforcement of EU data protection rules.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and human rights – Using AI as a weapon of repression and its impact on human rights – In-depth analysis
European Parliament: Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union and Ünver, A., Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
This in-depth analysis (IDA) explores the most prominent actors, cases and techniques of algorithmic authoritarianism together with the legal, regulatory and diplomatic framework related to AI-based biases as well as deliberate misuses. With the world leaning heavily towards digital transformation, AI’s use in policy, economic and social decision-making has introduced alarming trends in repressive and authoritarian agendas. Such misuse grows ever more relevant to the European Parliament, resonating with its commitment to safeguarding human rights in the context of digital trans-formation.
By shedding light on global patterns and rapidly developing technologies of algorithmic authoritarianism, this IDA aims to produce a wider understanding of the complex policy, regulatory and diplomatic challenges at the intersection of technology, democracy and human rights. Insights into AI’s role in bolstering authoritarian tactics offer a foundation for Parliament’s advocacy and policy interventions, underscoring the urgency for a robust international framework to regulate the use of AI, whilst ensuring that technological progress does not weaken fundamental freedoms. Detailed case studies and policy recommendations serve as a strategic resource for Parliament’s initiatives: they highlight the need for vigilance and proactive measures by combining partnerships (technical assistance), industrial thriving (AI Act), influence (regulatory convergence) and strength (sanctions, export controls) to develop strategic policy approaches for countering algorithmic control encroachments.
- Artificial intelligence – Economic impact, opportunities, challenges, implications for policy
European Commission: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, Simons, W., Turrini, A. and Vivian, L., Artificial intelligence – Economic impact, opportunities, challenges, implications for policy, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
This discussion paper presents the key features of Artificial Intelligence (AI), highlighting the main differences with respect to previous IT and digital technologies. It presents the most relevant facts about AI diffusion across EU countries, and discusses the main economic implications, focusing especially on its impact on productivity and labour markets. While AI presents a formidable opportunity, it also entails major challenges, with implications for policy. This paper focuses on policies to remove bottlenecks to AI development and adoption, regulatory policies, competition policy, policies to deal with labour market and distributive implications.
- Competencies and governance practices for AI in the public sector
European Commission: Joint Research Centre, Medaglia, R., Mikalef, P. and Tangi, L., Competencies and governance practices for AI in the public sector, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
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The diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) in the public sector depends largely on ensuring the presence of appropriate competences and establishing appropriate governance practices to deploy solutions. This report builds on a synthesis of empirical research, grey and policy literature, on an expert workshop and on interviews from seven case studies of European public organisations to identify the competences and governance practices around AI required to enable value generation in the public sector. Based on the analysis, we present a comprehensive framework for relevant competences and a framework for the governance practices for AI in the public sector. The report also introduces six recommendations to be implemented through 18 actions to facilitate the development of the competences and governance practices needed for AI in the public sector in Europe.
- CORDIS results pack on ethics and integrity in research
European Commission: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and Publications Office of the European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
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Scientific and technological advancements raise complex ethical questions and may have significant societal impacts. The responsible and ethical use of scientific discoveries and novel technologies requires that reflection on the impacts and potential misuse of new technological developments is incorporated into the research process. The eight Horizon-funded projects featured in this Pack invite a rethinking of research governance systems, to ensure that scientific and technological progress, in all areas, goes hand in hand with the values we hold dear.
- Destination CCAM – Insights, trends, and expectations for connected, cooperative and automated mobility in Europe
European Commission: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
n July 2023, the EC published a stakeholder survey aimed at gathering insights from experts in the road transport community regarding the status of CCAM in Europe. The survey was structured according to four main themes related to CCAM: 1) potential and impact, 2) expectations, 3) governance and 4) readiness. In total, the answers from 276 respondents, very or somewhat familiar with the CCAM concept, were analysed. Most respondents believed that CCAM could improve road safety by minimising human error and accidents. Reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on roads was the priority chosen most often for improving the transport system. Despite high expectations, most respondents were still concerned with CCAM solutions in high-risk driving scenarios and potential dilemmas. Thus, research and development of automated driving is needed to ensure their safe operation regardless of the situation.
- Diversity in artificial intelligence conferences – An analysis of indicators for gender, country and institution diversity from 2007 to 2023
European Commission: Joint Research Centre, Gómez, E., Porcaro, L., Frau, P. and Vinagre, J., Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
This report provides an overview of the divinAI project and provides a set of diversity indicators for seven core artificial intelligence (AI) conferences from 2007 to 2023: the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), the Annual Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Conference, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) Conference, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Recommender Systems (RecSys) Conference, the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI) and the European Conference on Machine Learning/Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECML/PKDD) .
We observe that, in general, Conference Diversity Index (CDI) values are still low for the selected conferences, although showing a slight temporal improvement thanks to diversity initiatives in the AI field. We also note slight differences between conferences, being RecSys the one with higher comparative diversity indicators, followed by general AI conferences (IJCAI, ECAI and AAAI). The selected Machine Learning conferences NeurIPS and ICML seem to provide lower values for diversity indicators. Regarding the different dimensions of diversity, gender diversity reflects a low proportion of female authors in all considered conferences, even given current gender diversity efforts in the field, which is in line with the low presence of women in technological fields. In terms of country distribution, we observe a notable presence of researchers from the EU, US and China in the selected conferences, where the presence of Chinese authors has increased in the last few years. Regarding institutions, universities and research centers or institutes play a central role in the AI scientific conferences under analysis, and the presence of industry seems to be more notable in machine learning conferences. An online dashboard that allows exploration and reproducibility complements the report.
- Ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning for educators
European Commission - Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.
These ethical guidelines on AI and data usage in teaching and learning are designed to help educators understand the potential that the applications of AI and data usage can have in education and to raise awareness of the possible risks so that they are able to engage positively, critically and ethically with AI systems and exploit their full potential.
- Ethische Leitlinien für Lehrkräfte über die Nutzung von KI und Daten für Lehr- und Lernzwecke
European Commission - Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.
Diese ethischen Leitlinien über die Nutzung von KI und Daten für Lehr- und Lernzwecke sollen Lehrkräften helfen, das Potenzial von KI-Anwendungen und Datennutzung in der Bildung zu begreifen und sie für die möglichen Risiken zu sensibilisieren, damit sie in der Lage sind, sich positiv, kritisch und ethisch mit KI-Systemen auseinanderzusetzen und deren Potenzial vollständig auszuschöpfen.
- Human rights in the midst of intelligent humanoid robots’ rise – The good, the bad, and the uncertain
Lucas Cardiell, European University Institute, 2024.
The recent progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has inspired a remarkable transformation in intelligent humanoid robots (IHRs). These human replicas are purposefully designed to mimic human appearance and actions. As they interact with individuals, they might pose great potential positive and negative impacts on their human rights, e.g., the right to privacy and non-discrimination. In this thesis I explore the relevant ethical and human rights issues in the context of IHRs, which the AI and human rights literature has not yet adequately addressed. I argue that the aesthetics, presence in private spaces, and the perception of IHRs by individuals as animate beings, pose threats and afford opportunities for human rights and ethical values, particularly privacy as broadly understood. Furthermore, I argue that, as a distinct AI and robotic technology, IHRs have the potential to exploit human vulnerabilities for, e.g., the elderly and individuals with physical and mental disabilities, thus, they deserve a particular attention from the human rights scholarship.
As a representative case, I pay particular attention to elderly care robots. I contribute to the AI and human rights literature in three interrelated ways: 1) I create a classification of privacy to provide a comprehensive understanding of how privacy is impacted by IHRs. This classification includes elements such as informational, physical, mental, and social privacy, among others. 2) I conduct qualitative interviews with leading technologists, roboticists, and AI experts to gain insight into the present and potential trajectory of IHRs. The findings of these interviews reveal the following issues: 1) growing concerns about the urgency to understand the ramifications of AI/IHRs on human rights, particularly the right to privacy, 2) human-centric AI was considered as an appropriate approach to supervise the development of IHRs/AI, and 3) regulating AI/IHRs was preferred by most of the interviewees. 3) Based on this analysis, I propose a ‘human rights-centred approach’, which I consider as a unifying universal approach to design and deploy human rights-respecting IHRs. I suggest that: 1) human rights can inform use the challenges and opportunities raised by IHRs, and 2) incorporating human rights in the process of design and developing IHRs should be of essential importance.
- Lignes directrices éthiques sur l’utilisation de l’intelligence artificielle (IA) et des données dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage à l’intention des éducateurs
European Commission - Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.
Les présentes lignes directrices éthiques sur l’utilisation de l’IA et des données dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage sont conçues pour aider les éducateurs à comprendre le potentiel des applications de l’IA et de l’utilisation des données dans le domaine de l’éducation et pour les sensibiliser aux éventuels risques qu’elles comportent. L’objectif est que les éducateurs abordent cette technologie de manière positive, critique et éthique et qu’ils l’utilisent correctement pour exploiter tout son potentiel.
- The protection of mental privacy in the area of neuroscience – Societal, legal and ethical challenges
European Parliament: Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services, Maia de Oliveira Wood, G., Berger, L., Jarke, J., Barnard, G. et al., European Parliament, 2024.
Advances in (neuro)technological development have led to an increase in the use and accessibility of neurotechnologies (NT), allowing brain activity to be recorded, analysed and manipulated by neurotechnological devices. While they were originally used only for clinical purposes, they are becoming more and more attractive for healthy populations willing to enhance their cognitive or physical abilities. Consumer-grade devices can be acquired and used by lay persons without supervision in work, education and entertainment environments. This state of affairs raises a multitude of open questions and the possibility of threats to data security and privacy, as well as neuropsychological, ethical and societal implications. As a result, the Neurorights Foundation (NRF) was formed in 2017 to investigate and discuss these questions and make them visible to the public. This study addresses the NRF's claims and suggestions and evaluates the need for their proposed 'neurorights'. Disciplinary evaluations of the issues at stake are followed by recommendations and policy options.
- The role of artificial intelligence in processing and generating new data – An exploration of legal and policy challenges in open data ecosystems
Publications Office of the European Union, Graux, H., Gryffroy, P., Gad-Nowak, M. and Boghaert, L., Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
The general impact of artificial intelligence (AI) systems on businesses, governments and the global economy is currently a hot topic. This isn’t surprising, considering that AI is believed to have the potential to bring about radical, unprecedented changes in the way people live and work. The transformative potential of AI originates to a large extent from its ability to analyse data at scale, and to notice and internalise patterns and correlations in that data that humans (or fully deterministic algorithms) would struggle to identify. In simpler terms: modern AIs flourish especially if they can be trained on large volumes of data, and when they are used in relation to large volumes of data.
- Successful and timely uptake of artificial intelligence in science in the EU
European Commission: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are one of the most disruptive general purpose applications at the service of research and innovation. It acts as a catalyst for scientific breakthroughs and is rapidly becoming a key instrument in the scientific process in all areas of research. In this Scientific Opinion (SO) the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors examines how the European Commission can accelerate the responsible take-up of artificial intelligence in science in the European Union. It focuses on a responsible uptake of AI in science – including providing access to highquality AI, respecting European values, and strengthening the position of Europe in science to boost innovation and prosperity in the EU. This SO is published in the context of the Scientific Advice Mechanism which provides independent scientific evidence and policy recommendations to the European institutions by request of the College of Commissioners.
- Last Updated: Dec 13, 2024 12:20 PM
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