The European Parliament has adopted proposals for the EU to produce:

- an ethics framework for artificial intelligence; and

- amended legislation for civil liability for when artificial intelligence causes damage.

The European Commission is expected to produce legislative proposals in early 2021.

The proposals are that future laws should be made in accordance with several guiding principles, including: a human-centric and human-made AI; safety, transparency and accountability; safeguards against bias and discrimination; right to redress; social and environmental responsibility; and respect for privacy and data protection.  High-risk artificial intelligence technologies should be designed to allow for human oversight at any time. If a functionality is used that would result in a serious breach of ethical principles and could be dangerous, the self-learning capacities should be disabled and full human control should be restored.

Changes to the law are likely to focus on those in high-risk industries (e.g. healthcare, education, defence) or where artificial intelligence is used for high-risk purposes (e.g. waste management, recruitment, public sector decisions).  The aim is to provide those using artificial intelligence with legal certainty, whilst protecting citizens from harm and promoting trust in artificial intelligence.