This session invites interested people to come together and read the EU AI Act collectively.
After years of deliberation the EU AI Act was approved in summer 2024.

It is worth looking at the AI Act as it shapes an imagination of AI and how it can and cannot be regulated. Companies and governments are now preparing for the enforcement and compliance of the act. The EU Commission is building its legislative infrastructure around it. The AI Act is a horizontal product law taking a risk-based approach to the application of AI in the EU single market. Companies are required to mitigate certain risks depending on the risk level. In parallel, technical standards for AI are currently being developed.

The session will be divided into two parts: The first part will set the scene. We will present the logic of the AI Act, its history, and building blocks to orientate the reading. The second part will be a collective reading and analysis of the legal text. We will read together and discuss our associations, confusions, questions, interpretations.

Questions that could guide the collective reading are:

• What is the underlying objective of the EU AI Act?
• How is AI defined? How can it be interpreted?
• Who is included in the regulation? Who is left out?
• How is risk defined? How are different actors understood?
• What are the limits of the law? How do we reckon with some of the underlying tensions of the law?

We are open to adjusting the collective reading to the specific interests and motivations of the group. Please share with us beforehand if there is something that you would really like to cover in the session. Feedback, thoughts, responses will be deeply welcomed!

About the facilitator:
Gwendolin Barnard is a PhD researcher in Sociology at University of Graz. By mobilizing approaches from Critical Data Studies and Science and Technology Studies, they have been researching the establishment and current implementation of the EU AI Act. Their specific interest in the EU AI Act builds on their research looking at the impact of datafication on workers in the way labour is accessed, managed, and organized. They are interested in how the law opens or forecloses political possibilities to collectively express interests and needs – especially when it comes to the intense deployment of AI in workplaces and beyond. They are part of the research team at the US-based organisation ‘Our Data Bodies – Justice and Human rights’ where they are currently working on a project identifying the policy vacuums that legitimated practices of managerial-led surveillance at U.S. Amazon Warehouses with the aim identifying routes forward.

• Participation is free (gratis)

• Language: English-spoken

• Food: We’ll provide for basic soup / snacks, and it would be great if you can bring some food to the shared table.

• Please reserve your presence by email : peter@constantvzw.org

• Accessibility:
  Wheelchair accessible :
  Entrance, (but narrower 75 cm corridor door), toilet, mainspace, kitchen and garden.

More accessibility info:
https://constantvzw.org/site/Accessibility.html

If you have any special needs please contact us.