Should we regulate Artificial Intelligence or some uses of software?

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence regulatory developments have been ever-increasing in both academia as well as within policy and governmental settings. Whilst extensive literature has been published on the topic of how such regulation should be developed, the question as to whether such regulation should be AI-specific or focused on software in general remains unexplored. In this commentary paper this question is explored and after arguments for whether regulation should be technology-specific or be focused on the use of technology are provided.

Blockchain for Artificial Intelligence (AI): enhancing compliance with the EU AI Act through distributed ledger technology. A cybersecurity perspective

“…According to the AI Act: "European common data spaces established by the Commission and the facilitation of data sharing between businesses and with government in the public interest will be instrumental to provide trustful, accountable and nondiscriminatory access to high quality data for the training, validation and testing of AI systems". 12 Moreover, the AI ACT maintains that in order to facilitate the development of high-risk AI systems, specific actors, including digital innovation hubs, testing experimentation facilities, researchers, experts etc. should have access to and utilise high-quality datasets within their relevant fields of activities, as per the guidelines set by this Regulation.…”

“…The proposed AI Act by the European Union seeks to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for AI systems, with a primary focus on addressing ethical and legal considerations yet it also recognizes and emphasises the significance for cybersecurity within AI systems 2 . During the same period the AI Act was being discussed and developed, blockchain was posing similar techno-regulatory concerns around the World particularly due to its use in cryptocurrencies for which technology-focused regulation was proposed and eventually the EU's markets in cryptoassets (MiCA) regulation was passed [12]. While aspects of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies (DLT), particularly their decentralised nature and immutable offerings, have posed challenges to regulators, we see their potential to fill compliance and risk gaps the AI Act leaves.…”

“…In a similar direction, a study by Mueck et al (2023) [34] examines the upcoming European Regulations on Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity and provide an overview on the status of related policy actions related to cyber regulation in AI. Ellul (2022) [12] argues that regulation should not be AI-specific but focused on software used in specific sectors and activities, and later, Ellul et al (2023) [13] propose the need for techno-regulatory solutions to support software (and AI) related regulation.…”

Trust in artificial intelligence: From a Foundational Trust Framework to emerging research opportunities

“…Here, many research issues must be addressed. Examples include: how to define AI to ensure the right technology is regulated, while not stifling development of other technologies; how to create fundamentally safer software (Ellul, 2022); whether regulations be applied only to sensitive cases or any AI irrespective of use (Haenlein et al, 2022); and whether AI can be regulated as a component of software or if the entire AI systems must be subject to such actions (Ellul, 2022).…”