Who will define tomorrow's societal values and norms? This panel will address the issues raised by AI socio-technical standards in the current geopolitical landscape.

In the context of an increasing digitalization of society, essential aspects of the global regulation of AI are already at stake at the level of technical standardization. Article 40 of the European AI Act gives a central role to European “harmonized standards” in the future regulation of AI. In the US, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has the ambition to lead the development of global technical AI standards, while China and its National Standardization Committee are implementing the national strategy “Standards 2035”. In January 2022, the UK government decided to back an AI Standards Hub comprising the Alan Turing Institute, the National Physical Laboratory and the British Standards Institution, in order to shape global AI standards. Initiatives are also on their way at the level of the International Standard Organization (ISO), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and in other standardization forums around the world. The stakes are particularly high since tomorrow’s AI technical standards will also address societal values and fundamental rights. This panel will address the issues raised by socio-technical standards for AI : What is the current state of play ? How are concerns regarding the impact of AI on societal values and fundamental rights addressed in the standardization process? Are we going in the direction of universal standards for a human-centric AI ? Are we witnessing the emergence of a geopolitics of technical standards leading to the emergence of several conflicting digital ecosystems that may play the role of political « sphere of influences »?