Artificial Intelligence | UK Regulatory Outlook March 2024

• Published date: 03 April 2024
• Subject Matter: Privacy, Technology, Data Protection, New Technology
• Law Firm: Osborne Clarke
• Author: John Buyers, Catherine Hammon, Tom Sharpe, Thomas Stables, Tamara Quinn, Katherine Douse, Emily Tombs and James Edmonds

EU updates

EU AI Act adopted by Parliament

The EU AI Act was formally adopted by the European Parliament on 13 March 2024 - see the adopted text. This is not the last step in the legislative process but is an important milestone.

The speed at which the texts were finalised for this vote means that final checks and corrections are outstanding. A corrigendum is expected, and scheduled to be accepted by a quick Parliament vote on 11 or 12 April.

The next step after the Parliament's second vote will be formal adoption of the text by the Council of the EU. We have not yet seen a date for this vote, but it is expected in April. The Act will then be published in the Official Journal of the EU and enter into force twenty days after - expected to be late May.

UK updates

ICO launches second consultation on generative AI

The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched a second call for evidence in its series of consultations on generative AI. This consultation looks at "Purpose limitation in the generative AI lifecycle" and is focused on how the data protection principle of purpose limitation should be applied at different stages in the generative AI lifecycle.

The call for evidence closes on 12 April 2024 and the responses can be submitted here.

The first consultation focused on the lawful basis for web scraping to train generative AI models and closed on 1 March 2024.

International updates

Council of Europe reaches agreement on convention on AI

After a final week of talks, the Council of Europe announced that political agreement has been reached on the Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Framework Convention.

However, as many feared, this is not a convention with universal scope and application. It has been reported that the treaty will only apply to public authorities or private actors acting on their behalf.

Council of Europe member countries will vote on the text in May, after which signatory countries will need to ratify it at national level.

Separately, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) published a statement on the negotiations around the convention. The EDPS is concerned that the convention could be "a missed opportunity to lay down a strong and effective legal framework for the development and uptake of trustworthy AI." Its concerns...