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Council of Europe Framework Convention
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Useful for understanding the current international AI governance landscape, particularly the first binding multilateral AI treaty and the structural challenges to achieving global coordination on AI norms.
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Importance: 52/100opinion pieceanalysis
Summary
Analysis of the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law — the first legally binding international AI governance treaty, opened for signature in September 2024. The article examines whether this treaty can bridge global AI governance gaps, drawing parallels to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and highlighting challenges of achieving broad international adherence, particularly from Global South nations and major powers like China and Russia.
Key Points
- •The Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI is the first legally binding international treaty on AI governance, signed by 10 states including the US, UK, and EU as of December 2024.
- •A UN advisory body identified a 'global governance deficit' in AI: only 7 states had adopted all existing AI governance documents, while 118 states had adhered to none.
- •The treaty faces the same adoption challenge as the 2001 Budapest Cybercrime Convention, which has uneven adherence across Asia and Africa despite 76 state parties.
- •Canada participated in negotiations but had not yet signed as of December 2024, while major AI powers China and Russia are unlikely participants.
- •Existing AI governance has been fragmented — hundreds of non-binding frameworks with no common legal basis — making this treaty a significant but uncertain step toward coherence.
Cited by 2 pages
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Failed and Stalled AI Proposals | Analysis | 63.0 |
| International Compute Regimes | Concept | 67.0 |
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# The first international treaty on AI governance – a basis for convergence or dissention?
The transforming technologies contained under the AI label have prompted a flurry of action by governments but international cooperation on AI governance is likely to remain elusive.
By: [Paul Meyer](https://opencanada.org/author/paul-meyer/ "Posts by Paul Meyer") /
13 December, 2024
In our increasingly complex world, AI is doing things that previously could only be done by humans, such as generating written materials, making important decisions and offering recommendations. Image: [Gerd Altmann/Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/illustrations/world-wide-web-binary-system-7104406/)
[](https://opencanada.org/author/paul-meyer/)
By: Paul Meyer
Adjunct professor of international studies, Simon Fraser University
With little fanfare this September in Vilnius, Lithuania the first international legally binding agreement on the governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was opened for signature. Negotiated by the 46 members of the Council of Europe and 11 observer states, the [treaty](https://www.coe.int/en/web/artificial-intelligence/the-framework-convention-on-artificial-intelligence) is entitled “Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law”. As of this month the treaty has already been signed by 10 states including the United States and the United Kingdom as well as the European Union. Canada was engaged in the negotiation (and even conducted a public consultation to inform its approach) but has not signed the convention to date, although there is no reason to suspect it will not.
The transforming technologies contained under the AI label have prompted a flurry of action by governments to generate norms to rule its development and use. These have tended to take the form of various non-binding Codes of Conduct or sets of principles without a common legal basis or inclusive scope. The [report](https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/governing_ai_for_humanity_final_report_en.pdf) of the UN’s High-level Advisory Body on AI has described the normative situation in this manner: “There is today a global governance deficit with respect to AI. Despite much discussion of ethics and principles, the patchwork of norms and institutions is still nascent and full of gaps. There is no shortage of documents and dialogues focused on AI governance. Hundreds of guides, frameworks and principles have been adopted by governments, companies and consortiums, and regional and international organizations.”
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