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The Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (FRIA) in the AI Act: Roots, legal obligations and key elements for a model template
Alessandro Mantelero
November 7, 2024
Computer Law and Security Review
62 citations
2 influential
Key Takeaways
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The EU AI Act requires companies to conduct Fundamental Rights Impact Assessments (FRIAs) for high-risk AI systems, establishing a legal obligation to evaluate how AI systems might affect basic human rights like privacy, freedom of expression, and non-discrimination before deployment.
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The paper identifies that FRIAs represent a shift toward "human-centric and trustworthy AI" by requiring developers to systematically consider fundamental rights during the design and development phase, rather than only addressing problems after they occur.
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The authors propose a model template for conducting FRIAs to fill gaps in how these assessments should actually be performed, providing practical guidance for both EU regulators and AI companies on the methodological criteria and key elements needed to properly evaluate rights impacts.
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The FRIA framework is designed to be applicable beyond just the specific high-risk AI cases listed in the AI Act, potentially serving as a blueprint for other countries and international initiatives seeking to ensure AI systems respect human rights globally.
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By placing rights impact assessment "at the heart" of AI development, the paper suggests this approach aims to prevent harm to fundamental rights proactively rather than reactively, making it a key tool for responsible AI governance in Europe and potentially worldwide.
Abstract
What is the context which gave rise to the obligation to carry out a Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (FRIA) in the AI Act? How has assessment of the impact on fundamental rights been framed by the EU legislator in the AI Act? What methodological criteria should be followed in developing the FRIA? These are the three main research questions that this article aims to address, through both legal analysis of the relevant provisions of the AI Act and discussion of various possible models for assessment of the impact of AI on fundamental rights. The overall objective of this article is to fill existing gaps in the theoretical and methodological elaboration of the FRIA, as outlined in the AI Act. In order to facilitate the future work of EU and national bodies and AI operators in placing this key tool for human-centric and trustworthy AI at the heart of the EU approach to AI design and development, this article outlines the main building blocks of a model template for the FRIA. While this proposal is consistent with the rationale and scope of the AI Act, it is also applicable beyond the cases listed in Article 27 and can serve as a blueprint for other national and international regulatory initiatives to ensure that AI is fully consistent with human rights.