In April 2021, the EU Parliament published a proposal, the AI Act (AIA), for regulating the use of AI systems and services in the Union market. However, the effects of EU digital regulations usually transcend its confines. An example of what has been named the “Brussels effect” - the high impact of EU digital regulations around the world - is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect in May 2018 and rapidly became a world standard. The AIA seems to go in the same direction, having a clear extraterritorial scope, in that it applies to any AI system or service that has an impact on European Citizens, regardless of where its provider or user is located. The AIA adopts a risk-based approach that bans certain technologies, proposes strict regulations for “high risk” ones, and imposes stringent transparency criteria for others. If adopted, the AIA will undoubtedly have a significant impact in the EU and beyond. A crucial question is whether we already have the technology to comply with the proposed regulation and to what extent can the requirements of this regulation be enforceable.

The 1st International Workshop on Imagining the AI Landscape After the AI Act aims at analyzing how this new regulation will shape the AI technologies of the future, collecting together input and discussions from multidisciplinary stakeholders. It takes place in conjunction with the International Conference on Hybrid Human-Artificial Intelligence.

Desara Dushi is one of the co-organisers of the workshop and Mireille Hildebrandt will lead the fireside chat.

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