Event Summary
Artificial intelligence remains in the regulatory hot-seat, with governments racing to develop new and refined regulations and protections for AI. While the EU AI Act is the first mover in the space and the Brussels effect is in play, countries across the globe weigh the key issues of risks, rights, and economic opportunity against the needs of their region. In this learning call, panelists explore different approaches to AI regulation from policy experts from Africa, Latin America, North America, and Europe. Panelists discuss how national priorities are implemented in different regions, how the EU AI Act has a global impact, how Rwanda and Brazil serve as new models of AI regulation, and how governments, such as the US, take sectoral, legislative, and regulatory bodies approaches to AI governance.
Read a blog on Medium on the major themes of the conversation co-authored by BKC Senior Director of Programs and Strategy Lis Sylvan and former BKC Leadership Team Research Assistant Niharika Vattikonda.
Speakers
Ridwan Oloyede is the assistant director for the professional development workflow at Certa Foundation’s Center for Law and Innovation. He most recently co-authored Certa Foundation’s report on the state of AI regulation in Africa and analyzed Rwanda’s unique approach to AI regulation as the first mover in Africa. Previously Ridwan Oloyede co-founded Tech Hive Advisor, PrivacyLensAfrica, and Privacy Bar & Bants. He has been designated as an expert at the Council of Europe’s Data Protection Unit.
Carlos Affonzo De Souza is director of the Institute of Technology and Society of Rio de Janeiro and a professor of law at Rio de Janeiro State University and the University of Ottawa Law School. Carlos De Souza is an Affiliated Fellow at Yale Law School’s Information and Society Project. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers, and his recent work has focused on Brazil’s efforts to regulate AI ahead of November’s G20 meeting and the emerging rights-based approach in that regulation.
Mason Kortz is a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. He brings his legal training and background as a software and database developer to his work at the Cyberlaw Clinic. His recent research focuses on the law of artificial intelligence and algorithms, and he has written and presented on how algorithmic decision-making has impacted intellectual property rights, product liability requirements, and the criminal legal system.
Gabriele Mazzini is the architect and lead author of the EU AI Act by the European Commission, where he has focused on technology law and policy for the past seven years. Prior to joining the European Commission, Gabriele served in the European Parliament and the Court of Justice and was Associate General Counsel at the Millennium Villages Project, an international development initiative across several sub-Saharan countries. Gabriele Mazzini is a Connection Science Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Moderator
Elisabeth (“Lis") Sylvan is the Senior Director of Strategy and Programming at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. There she leads multiple educational, research, and policy projects on topics including AI governance, digital identity, open data, and digital self determination. Her work includes the Policy Practice, the Co-designing Generative Futures initiative, and many educational programs such as the Summer Institute and BKC Research Sprints. Elisabeth Sylvan’s M.S. and Ph.D. are from the MIT Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.