Picking up the AI Liability Directive after the tech policy spree

3 months ago 18

The next European Parliament will have to determine whether a niche piece of liability rules related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be useful after the previous parliament’s legislative spree.

Proposed in September 2022, the Artificial Intelligence Liability Directive (AILD) aims to adapt non-contractual civil liability rules to AI. It falls within a very specific legal niche.

The AILD goes hand in hand with changes to the Product Liability Directive (PLD), a 40-year-old directive that assigns responsibilities and penalties for defective products.

A new version of the PLD was adopted by the European Parliament in March 2024. It explicitly included software, such as AI chatbots, as well as damage to psychological health and damage resulting from the destruction or irreversible corruption of data.

At the same time, the AILD is connected with the AI Act, which also passed the Parliament vote in March 2024. The AI Act aims to reduce safety risks posed by the technology.

But like any other law, it doesn’t perfectly prevent anything because if the risks materialise into damage, liability rules can help determine compensation.

Currently, the directive is still at the Committee level, where it was referred more than a year ago.

The responsible committee is Legal Affairs (JURI), with Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) also giving opinions. The Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committee decided not to opine on the directive.

The legal affairs committee has commissioned a study from the European Parliament’s Research Service, who in turn hired an external contractor to determine whether there is a legal gap left by the AI Act and PLD for the AILD to fill, Kai Zenner, digital policy adviser for MEP Axel Voss, who leads work on the AILD at the JURI committee, told Euractiv.

At the Council level, there is uncertainty about the AILD’s usefulness. Two member states have argued against the file, while others have asked for more time, a look at the Parliament’s study, and workshops with the Commission, which will be conducted over the summer, Zenner said.

The AILD also looks to harmonise rules on how liability for AI system producers and operators can work across the EU.

Much like with any other digital regulation adopted in the 2019-2024 mandate, the next Commission will have to untangle how these rules interact and overlap – and start actually implementing them.

The revised PLD could touch upon every aspect of the digital industry, so it remains to be seen where the AILD can be useful.