The regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) has started to become an urgent priority, with countries around the world proposing legislation aimed at promoting the responsible and safe application of AI to minimise the harms that it can pose. However, while these initiatives all aim to regulate the same technology, there is some divergence in how these different efforts define AI – getting lost in translation.

In this blog post, we survey how multiple institutions and laws, including the Information Commissioner’s Office, EU AI Act, OECD, Canada’s Artificial Intelligence and Data Act, and California’s proposed amendments to their employment regulations, define AI. We then analyse the commonalities and differences that set them apart, centring our analysis on the system outputs, the role of humans, autonomy, and types of technology.