Clément Perarnaud on the role of standards in making the AI Act operational

The European Union’s upcoming AI Act will require adequate standards to become fully operational, and much work is required to ensure that the standardization process does not conflict with the Act’s inclusion and transparency objectives.

The process will be led by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC). In the past, they have been criticized for their secrecy and lack of transparency. The standards must be made public, but some fear that the private sector will have too much control over the process, which could have an impact on human rights. The standards’ nature and scope will also have geopolitical implications, with some calling for greater international cooperation.

Standards will be essential in enforcing the EU’s AI legislation, and CEN-CENELEC will have just two years to formulate and agree on a series of AI standards.