The European Commission presented on 21 April 2021 a proposal to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Europe: the draft Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA). In a nutshell, the draft AIA aims to create binding rules for certain AI systems placed on the EU market and would be directly applicable in EU member states.

In particular, the draft AIA aims to:
 

• create harmonised rules for AI systems in the EU following a risk-based approach, i.e. ban certain AI practices which pose an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of individuals, impose specific requirements for AI systems defined as high-risk, and lay down harmonised transparency rules for AI systems intended to interact with natural persons;
• establish mandatory requirements for high-risk AI systems as well as obligations for the operators, including an ex-ante conformity assessment and post-market monitoring plan;
• set rules on post market monitoring and measures for non-compliance, where failure to comply with the draft AIA could result in significant administrative fines of up to €30m or 6% of a company's annual worldwide turnover; and
• put in place governance systems at a national and EU level (through a new European Artificial Intelligence Board).

Cullen International has published a cheat sheet providing an overview of the key provisions in the draft AIA, based on the Commission proposal from April 2021. This cheat sheet offers a graphic representation and summary of the main aspects of the proposed regulation, focusing on:

• the definition of an AI system;
• the proposed risk-based approach, differentiating between four levels of risk;
• the classification of AI systems, based on the level of risk they pose;
• the mandatory requirements for high-risk AI systems;
• the addressees of the draft AIA, as well as their roles and obligations;
• the envisaged governance and enforcement mechanisms; and
• the proposed penalties for non-compliance.

Download cheat sheet
(Free access for all)
Clients of our European Digital Economy service can access it directly here. 

If you would like to see Cullen International's full analysis on the draft Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), please just request access below.
 

**UPDATE December 2023:**
The European Parliament (EP) and the Council reached on 8 December 2023 a political deal on the final version of the Artificial Intelligence Act.
Download our latest Cheat Sheet with a summary of the highlights in the provisional agreement!