As part of the Artificial Intelligence National Laboratory, the project supports the implementation of the objectives of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The project aims to identify current and future issues related to the regulatory environment of artificial intelligence (AI), map possible directions, identify AI-related good practices in different fields of law, relying on comparative methods and focusing on the EU legal framework. On that basis, specific and effective legal recommendations are put forward by researchers to promote a legal and regulatory environment for AI.
The specific characteristics of AI technology can make it difficult to monitor and effectively enforce compliance with existing international, EU or national legislation. According to the European Commission’s White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, the use of AI can lead to further breaches of fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, non-discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, the protection of personal data and private life, consumer protection or the right to an effective judicial remedy and a fair trial. Those risks might result from flaws in the overall design of AI systems or from the use of data without correction. Security and design mechanisms should be integrated into these systems in order to ensure verifiable security. Research focuses on examining the legal and technical conditions for regulation by design.
The project aims to examine the Artificial Intelligence Act of the EU, which sets minimum horizontal requirements applicable to all AI systems placed on the market or used within the EU. The Artificial Intelligence Act follows a risk-based approach, whereby AI applications are classified into risk categories and the level of legal intervention required is adapted to the relevant risk level. In that context, the Act differentiates between uses of AI that create an unacceptable risk, high risk, medium risk and minimal risk.
Systems using AI are able to improve decision-making processes by analysing Big Data and exploiting its potential. A sufficiently large amount of such information, combined with the use of various data sources, may enable the identification of the data subject, resulting in a breach of data protection legislation. Like any other IT system, AI is exposed to cyber-attacks, which may result in a financial loss and even physical damage (e.g. in AI-based robots or AI-controlled critical infrastructure systems). Moreover, the increasing use of facial recognition technology is considered as the processing of ‘biometric data’ under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and is thus subject to strict conditions. The collection and use of such data for remote identification purposes, such as facial recognition in public places, pose risks to people’s fundamental rights.
The research also focuses on the internal market-specific legal aspects of digital market regulation, in particular the role of AI. An increasing body of legislation has accumulated in the areas of competition, consumer protection and unfair trade in connection with the challenges posed by the increased use of AI in traditional and digital markets. The research examines the dynamics of EU regulation, specifically the regulation of AI and its impact on national legislation.
pact on national legislation. In addition to basic research, the project aims to assess sector-specific legal issues and provide professional guidance to consortium members. Apart from organising scientific and professional programs, a series of programs on Artificial Intelligence and Law has been launched as part of the project. In June 2022, in cooperation with the French Embassy and the French Institute in Hungary, the Institute for Legal Studies organised an international conference as a platform to discuss the current and future legal regulation of AI and its impact in Europe. The conference papers will be published in written form in 2023. The same year will also see the publication of a handbook on current regulatory issues in the field of AI, written by the researchers involved in the project, as well as a revised and expanded edition of Kitti Mezei’s monograph, first published in 2020. Various studies conducted by our researchers were also published in prestigious national and international journals during the project.
Project participants
István Ambrus
Nóra Chronowski
András Czebe
Réka Friedery
Csaba Győry
István Hoffman
Tamás Hoffmann
Gábor Kecskés
Eszter Kovács Szitkay
Zsolt Körtvélyesi
Kitti Mezei
András László Pap
Mónika Papp
Gábor Polyák
Lilla Rácz
Klára Szalay
Boldizsár Szentgáli-Tóth
Emese Szilágyi
Anikó Träger
Márton Varju
Zsolt Ződi
Cooperating partners
ELTE Faculty of Law
Curia
Mollia Zrt.
University of Public Service, Eötvös József Research Centre, Research Institute for Cybersecurity
Publications
Ambrus István. Digitalizáció és büntetőjog (Digitalisation and criminal law) (monograph), Wolters Kluwer Hungary, Budapest, Hungary, 328 p. 2021
Ambrus István, Mezei Kitti. The New Hungarian Legislation on Money Laundering and the Current Challenges of Cryptocurrencies. Danube, vol.13, no.4, pp.256- 268., 2022
Chronowski Nóra, Kálmán Kinga, Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. Régi keretek, új kihívások: a mesterséges intelligencia prudens bevonása a bírósági munkába és ennek hatása a tisztességes eljáráshoz való jogra (Old confines, new challenges: the prudent use of AI in judicial work and its impact on the right to a fair trial). Glossa Iuridica, 8 (4). pp. 7-38. ISSN 2064-6887, 2022
Czebe András. Fegyverek egyenlősége a digitális forradalom korában: a leplezett eszközök alkalmazásával összegyűjtött elektronikus adatok garanciális kérdései (Equality of arms in the age of digital revolution: guarantee issues of electronic data collected using covert means). Kúriai Döntések Bírósági Határozatok: A Kúria lapja 70: 1 pp. 141-147. 7 p., 2022
Friedery Réka. Hardening Borders during the pandemic in the European Union: The Shape of the Schengen Borders Code and the EU Digital COVID Certificate. Quarterly on Refugee Problems 61: 1 p. 71., 2022
Hoffman István, Karpiuk, Mirosław. E-administration in Polish and Hungarian Municipalities – a Comparative Analysis of the Regulatory Issues. Lex Localis: Journal of Local Self-Government 20: 3 pp. 617-640., 24 p., 2022
Kálmán Kinga, Kiss Laura Olga, Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. Mesterségesintelligencia-alapú szoftverek a világ bíróságain: gyakorlati tapasztalatok, perspektívák és kihívások (Artificial intelligence-based software in courts worldwide: practical experiences, perspectives and challenges). In: Jogi technológiák. Ludovika Press, Budapest. ISBN 9789635318193, 2022
Mezei Kitti. Diszkrimináció az algoritmusok korában (Discrimination in the Age of Algorithms). Magyar Jog 69 (6), pp. 331-338., 8 p., 2022
Mezei Kitti, Bán-Forgács Nóra. Discrimination in the Age of Algorithms. In: Human Rights as a Guarantee of Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth. Milton Friedman University; Alcide De Gasperi University of Euroregional Economy, Budapest; Józefów, pp. 73-80., 2022
Mezei Kitti, Krasznay Csaba. Cybersecurity and Cybercrime in Hungary During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Chałubińska-Jentkiewicz, Katarzyna; Hoffman István (eds.) The Role of Cybersecurity in the Public Sphere - The European Dimension, Maribor, Slovenia: Lex Localis, 234 p. pp. 191-207., 17 p., 2022
Mezei Kitti, Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. Az online platformok használatában rejlő veszélyek: a dezinformáció és a kibertámadások jogi kockázatai (The dangers of using online platforms: legal risks of disinformation and cyber-attacks). In: Demokrácia-dilemmák. ELTE Eötvös József Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 241-261. ISBN 9789634894773; 9789634894766, 2022
Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. A robotok jogi személyiségének koncepciója és annak lehetséges hatásai a demokráciára: Miért ne adjunk szavazati jogot a mesterséges intelligenciáknak (Robotic personhood and its potential impact on democracy. Should artificial intelligence be citizens and vested with right to vote?). Magyar Jog 69 (6). pp. 321-330., 2022
Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. Digitalizáció az észtországi bíróságokon: legenda és valóság (Digitalisation in Estonian courts: myth and reality). Arsboni, 10 (aug.). ISSN 2064-4655, 2022
Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. Egy dinamikus példa: mesterséges intelligencia Malajzia bíróságain (A dynamic example: artificial intelligence in Malaysian courts). Arsboni, 10 (aug.). ISSN 2064-4655, 2022
Varju Márton. The Protection of Technology Sovereignty in the EU: Policy, Powers and the Legal Reality. European Law Review 47: 4 pp. 568-583., 16 p., 2022
Kálmán Kinga. The constitutional aspects of applying AI based decision-making in the judiciary through the lenses of the right to fair trial. In: Garayová Lilla (ed.) The Law of the Future - The Future of Law. Bratislava, Slovakia: Páneurópska vysoká škola, pp. 823-847., 2021
Mezei Kitti. A kiberbűnözés aktuális kihívásai a büntetőjogban (Current challenges of cybercrime in criminal law). L’Harmattan Kiadó. Budapest, Magyarország, 282 p. 2021
Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. Robotic personhood and its potential impact to democracy. Should artificial intelligence be citizens and vested with right to vote? In: Garayová Lilla (szerk.) The Law of the Future - The Future of Law. Bratislava, Slovakia: Páneurópska vysoká škola (2021) pp. 771-807., 2021
Kecskés Gábor. Az autonóm járművek jogi kérdéseinek nemzetközi kontextusa, különös tekintettel a környezetjogi vetületekre (The international context of legal issues of autonomous vehicles, with particular reference to environmental aspects). Állam- és jogtudomány 61 (4). pp. 52-64., 2020
Mezei Kitti. A modern technológiák kihívásai a büntetőjogban, különös tekintettel a kiberbűnözésre (The challenges of modern technologies in criminal law, with a special focus on cybercrime). Állam- és jogtudomány 61 (4). pp. 65-81., 2020
Rácz Lilla. A személy és a dolog fogalmának (lehetséges) változásai a mesterséges intelligencia és a kriptovaluták világában ((Potential) changes in the concepts of person and object in the world of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies). Állam- és jogtudomány 61 (4). pp. 82-107., 2020
Conference papers
Mezei Kitti, Träger Anikó. The European and Chinese Approach to Artificial Intelligence: Risks and Opportunities. The 16th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 21–23 September 2022
Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. Artificial Intelligence in criminal justice: recent experience from Malaysia. Legal Technology and its impact on the access to justice, society and the Legal Industry, Budapest, 23 June 2022
Mezei Kitti. The legal challenges of AI-enabled cyberthreats, Cyber Summit 2022, Warsaw, 14 June 2022
Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. The constitutionality of online court hearings. The challenges of Artificial Intelligence for law in Europe: values, rights and regulation in the European legal space, Budapest, CSS, 9–10 June 2022
Ambrus István, Mezei Kitti. Algorithmic decision-making in the criminal justice: risks and opportunities. The challenges of Artificial Intelligence for law in Europe: values, rights and regulation in the European legal space, Budapest, CSS, 9–10 June 2022
Friedery Réka. Migration, pandemic and the prospects of Schengen. Global Migration: Trans-cultural, Trans-disciplinary and Intersectional Perspectives. Friedensau Adventist University (ThHF), online, 9 February 2022
Bán Marina, Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár. Artificial Intelligence and Legal Certainty: Promising Perspectives and Severe Risk. Factors The Impact of Digitalization on Constitutional Law, University of Copenhagen, Hybrid IACL Round Table, 31 January – 1 February 2022
Mezei Kitti. Discrimination in the Age of Algorithms. Annual training workshop of the European Legal Advisers Network, Budapest, 22 November 2021
ICON-S Mundo Conference – The Future of Public Law, own panel (AI and Law), online, 6–9 July 2021
International conference organised
The challenges of Artificial Intelligence for law in Europe: values, rights and regulation in the European legal space, Budapest, TK, 9–10 June 2022
International series of presentations
AI and Law program series
Online presentations by international visiting researchers:
Molnár Tamás (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights)
Joris Hulstijn (Tilburg University)
Béatrice Schütte (University of Helsinki)
Ljupcho Grozdanovski (NYU Law School/Université de Liége)
Adam Harkens (Birmingham University)
Pin Lean Lau (Brunell University, Law School)
Jakub Harasta (Masaryk University)
Rikke Jorgensen (The Danish Institue for Human Rights Copenhagen)
Wen Xiang (University of Copenhagen)
Reijer Passchier (Open University/Leiden University)