It was among the first academic events in Europe dedicated to the new Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law adopted by the Council of Europe in September 2024: The conference held at the Gorizia Campus of the University of Trieste brought together scholars from different countries for a critical and multidisciplinary reflection on the implications of the Treaty.

The event entitled ‘The CoE framework convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the rule of Comparative Law, EU, and International Law perspectives’ also received attention from the Council of Europe, which announced it on its official portal, underlining its value as an in-depth initiative supported by the academic world. 

Opening the meeting was Mario Hernández Ramos, President of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence of the Council of Europe (CAI), who in his speech explained the negotiation process of the Convention, its content and the prospects for its implementation. ‘Human values must be at the heart of the design, development and deployment of artificial intelligence, and the Council of Europe Convention plays a key role in achieving this.’ 

The conference was organised by Giuseppe Pascale and Marta Infantino, professors of International Law and Comparative Private Law at the University of Trieste, with the support of the Department of Political and Social Sciences (DiSPeS) and the European Union. It also received support from the PRIN project AutomatA – The dark side of algorithm in public administration, funded by the Italian Ministry for Universities and Research, whose partnership with UniTS is overseen by Professor Infantino’s scientific supervision.

‘This was one of the very first opportunities in Europe for critical academic reflection on the potential impact of the new Convention’, explain the organisers. ‘We have gathered scholars of comparative, international and European law in Gorizia to understand the prospects and consequences of regulating artificial intelligence. The contributions presented will be collected and published in open access, for the benefit of the scientific community and all those who want to deepen the content and scope of the Convention.’