Along with the rapid spread of AI systems with different functionalities in every part of our lives, national and international regulators have started to take an interest in AI systems. Having granted a mandate to the Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (“CAHAI”) in 2019, even before the EU AI Act proposal and the launch of the ChatGPT, the Council of Europe (“CoE”) has been one of the first international organizations exploring the question of AI regulation.

On 18 December 2023, the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (“CAI”), the successor of the CAHAI, published the Draft Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (“DFC”), a guiding international framework that sets out principles and norms for artificial intelligence in line with human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. In this blog post, we give an overview of the role of these committees and what you need to know about the DFC.