AI regulation and governance on a global scale: An overview of international, regional and national instruments

Abstract

The recent advancements in the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature a landscape filled with exciting prospects and lurking dangers in equal measure, necessitating a nuanced, human-centred regulatory approach. The EU is the first organisation to have undertaken this challenge with binding law through its AI Act. This paper delves into the complex task of this founding stone of EU AI law to balance promoting innovation and safeguarding fundamental rights. It addresses both the Acts pre-history encompassing the relevant policy documents before the European Commission's proposal and its history, which includes the negotiations and amendments leading up to the final trilogue session on the 6th of December 2023 and the consequential provisional agreement, followed by its approval by COREPER and the IMCO and LIBE committees and its final upvoting in the European Parliament on the 13th of March 2024. Keeping track of the Acts legislative journey, including the context in which said journey evolved, shall be crucial in order to comprehensively understand, interpret, and apply what is expected to be one of Europes most impactful pieces of legislation to date.The paper aims to bridge a gap in scholarly discussion around the AI Act, which has so far focused solely on evaluating fundamental rights protection or assessing cost-efficiency, providing a practical approach that consolidates the legislative process and appraises the AI Acts overall potential in protecting fundamental rights, while equitably maintaining AI innovation. The research question it seeks to answer is: How can the AI Act promise sufficient fundamental rights protection without compromising AI innovation and overbur-dening enterprises?