The Future Society co-hosted an online discussion with European regulators in New York City, in the context of our roundtable series on Artificial Intelligence (AI) & the Rule of Law. The year 2020 promises to be a watershed in the governance of AI, with major national and international institutions pursuing sweeping regulatory agendas. Among those institutions, the European Commission and the Council of Europe are likely to be the most influential globally. Debevoise, IEEE and The Future Society came together to organise this virtual roundtable to help senior counsel understand these institutions’ AI policy agendas and implications for industry, regulatory compliance, the practice of law, and the legal system. 

The roundtable, conducted under the Chatham House rule, enabled legal practitioners to hear directly from senior European regulators Paul Nemitz (European Commission, DG for Justice and Consumers) and Jan Kleijssen (Council of Europe, DG for Human Rights and Rule of Law). They then engaged in a Q&A session, moderated by Eileen Lach (IEEE/The Future Society), James Pastore (Debevoise) and Anna Gressel (IEEE/Debevoise). The roundtable offered insights and practical guidance on how corporate counsel might respond to the rapidly evolving interaction of Artificial Intelligence, policy, and the law.

Picture by Sebastian Pichler