Page 51 - AI Governance Day - From Principles to Implementation

AI Governance Day - From Principles to Implementation

Mr. Ambassador Thomas Schneider on the Council of Europe treaty

Mr. Ambassador Thomas Schneider highlighted the complexity of AI governance and the
necessity for a context-based approach. He drew parallels to engine regulation, emphasizing
that AI should not be regulated as a monolith but in terms of its functions and impacts.

"We regulate the people that are driving the engines. We regulate the infrastructure.
We regulate or protect people affected. It's all context-based. It's not the engine;
it's the function of the engine, the effect of the tool. […] The same logic should be
applied to AI." (Thomas Schneider)

He also spoke about the Council of Europe treaty, designed to ensure that existing human
rights protections apply to AI.

"The Council of Europe treaty was drafted not in a spirit to create new human rights,
not to reinvent the wheel, but actually to make sure that the existing human rights
and protections for democracy and the rule of law are applied in the context where
AI is used." (Thomas Schneider)

Figure 22: Thomas Schneider, Ambassador and Director of International Affairs, Swiss
Federal Office of Communications, and Chair of the Council of Europe Committee
on AI

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