Page 52 - AI Governance Day - From Principles to Implementation

AI Governance Day - From Principles to Implementation

Mr. Juha Heikkilä on the European AI act

Mr. Juha Heikkilä provided an overview of the European AI Act, described as "the first
comprehensive, horizontal, and legally binding regulation globally." He detailed the phased
implementation of the Act and its risk-based approach.

"The implementation itself is based on a strong pre and post market system of
enforcement and supervision. It's a decentralized system of national notified bodies
checking compliance with the AI Act requirements before high-risk systems can be
placed on the EU market." (Juha Heikkilä)

Mr. Juha Heikkilä highlighted also the importance of the European AI Office, the scope of which
is much broader that the role of safety institutes set up in some countries as it also deals with
research, innovation and deployment aspects, as well as international engagement.

Mr. Heikkilä emphasized the importance of trust in AI systems.

"Trust is important because trust is the sine qua non for uptake […] and uptake is the
sine qua non for benefits to materialize." (Juha Heikkilä)

Figure 23: Juha Heikkilä, Adviser for Artificial Intelligence, European Commission

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