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AI and I: A three-step approach to Artificial Intelligence: Episode 3 - Regulating AI. The paradox of Achilles and the tortoise

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EDPS trainees

Welcome to the final episode of the three-part podcast series focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, created by the trainees of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB).

In the previous episodes, we discussed the concept of AI and the applications of AI technologies. We also analysed some of the most relevant data protection and human rights issues raised in connection to AI. So far, we found out that AI has the potential to profoundly alter society’s way of living and help us solve challenges in many areas such as health, mobility, education and public administration. However, it also poses unforeseen individual and collective risks.

Our third and final episode will focus on the regulatory framework within the EU and the upcoming Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). We will cover why we need to regulate AI and what are the main points of the legislation in progress.

We will then take inspiration from the ongoing debate about the AI Act to investigate how the current draft could be further improved. Lastly, we will leave the legalese aside to discover what are the main practical changes that people and individuals can expect in their daily lives with the AI Act.

In order to explore and cast light on these aspects, we have invited two expert in this field that will contribute to this episode and answer our questions: Michèle Finck, Professor of Law and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Tübingen, and Mario Guglielmetti, legal officer at the EDPS and member of the EDPS internal AI Task Force.

This episode is hosted by Christian Ivanov, Carolin Kivioja and Matteo Leffi, and was prepared with the assistance of fellow EDPS and EDPB trainees, Gianluca Ciarfaglia, Gloria Cuesta Noguerales, Elora Fernandes, Alba Montes Reguero and Maria Vardala.

This Podcast was recorded on 13 July 2022.

Speakers

Mario Guglielmetti

Legal officer

Mario Guglielmetti is a legal officer at the EDPS since 2014, previously in the EDPS Supervision and Enforcement Unit, and now in the EDPS Policy and Consultation Unit. In the past, Mario was also a legal officer, working on data protection related files, at the European Commission and at the Italian Data Protection Authority. He has also worked at the International Taxation Department of the Italian Revenue Agency and is also a competition and antitrust lawyer.

Mario Guglielmetti holds an LL.M. from the College of Europe, in Bruges, and a Ph.D. in constitutional and administrative law from the University of Trento, as well as a law degree from Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento S. Anna, Pise. He is keen on exploring the human rights and societal impact of new technologies and legislation, from the focal point of fairness and sustainability in particular.

Michèle Finck

Professor of Law and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Tübingen

Michèle Finck is a Professor of Law and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Tübingen and an Affiliated Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich as well as at the Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London. She is also a Visiting Professor at LUISS University in Rome. Previously, Michèle Finck worked at the University of Oxford and at the London School of Economics.

Her research focuses on law and artificial intelligence with a particular emphasis on data (protection) law and governance. More recently, she has become interested in the intersection between digitalization and sustainability. Current research projects focus on data sharing services and privacy-preserving technologies, in particular federated machine learning and zero-knowledge proofs.

She is a member of a number of expert committees on digitalization, including the Council of Europe's Committee on Artificial Intelligence and the European Commission's Blockchain Observatory and Forum. She moreover has ample experience advising national institutions as well as the European Commission and the European Parliament on different occasions.