Our 2022 Annual Report

We are pleased to share our 2022 Annual Report. Our 2022 achievements include but are not limited to convening the Fourth Edition of The Athens Roundtable on AI and the Rule of Law at the European Parliament in Brussels, which brought together 120 onsite and over 1,000 virtual participants, including policymakers, legal experts, judicial operators, civil servants, industry leaders, and civil society representatives from 112 countries; working with legal practitioners and academics from both sides of the Atlantic to publish a Manifesto on Enforcing Law in the Age of AI, calling for the effective and legitimate enforcement of laws concerning AI systems; proposing the design and operationalization of regulatory sandboxes in the EU AI Act; and finalizing national AI strategies and implementation plans for Tunisia and Ghana.

We also take this opportunity to reflect on recent technological developments and chart our course for 2023. We’re continuing work on a number of existing projects, and launching a few new projects that develop, advocate for, and facilitate the implementation of governance mechanisms addressing “general-purpose AI systems” (GPAIS)—large, machine-learning models (in some contexts referred to as “foundation models”) trained on vast quantities of data that can be adapted to a wide range of tasks. Due to their versatility, and the advantages they confer in terms of business and productivity, GPAIS have captured not only the attention of technical research communities but have become a new frontier for AI startups racing to develop “artificial general intelligence.”

We believe that the emergence of GPAIS may foreshadow the most disruptive technological revolution in human history. At TFS, we are concerned that these advanced AI systems pose serious risks to human safety and fundamental values. We also believe that relative to the threat that they pose—and in part due to their novelty—GPAIS have been neglected in the AI governance landscape. Thus, in the coming year, we intend to orient our work to focus on the governance of GPAIS, and in particular, towards the research and development phases of such models—stages of the AI lifecycle where risk mitigation is most tractable, and preventative measures would be most effective.

Read more about our 2022 accomplishments and our plans for 2023 in the report below.

Will we be able to tame the powerful beasts we are developing and prevent large-scale accidents, misuse, social unrest, or malicious use while allowing innovation to flourish? I am deeply concerned that we still lack adequate institutional instruments, mechanisms, and related capacities and practices. This represents an immense collective action challenge. Given the deep-seated misunderstandings and growing polarization across the AI governance community, forging common ground toward resolute and sustained action will not be easy. It will require humility, dialogue, and willingness to compromise on all sides. We at TFS are committed to it.

Nicolas Miailhe, President and Founder, The Future Society