GeoAI and the Law Newsletter
Keeping geospatial professionals informed on the legal and policy issues that will impact GeoAI.
Recent Developments in GeoAI and the Law
Over the past couple of weeks, I have sat through several panel sessions at geospatial events in which members of the geospatial community talk about policies when they are actually describing laws or regulations. The distinction is important because policies, unlike laws and regulations, are not generally legally binding. As a result, you can have a favorable policy, setting the right priorities and objectives, but there may be laws and regulations that prevent the policy goals from being realized.
For example, for many years the U.S. government has had policies promoting increased procurement by government agencies of commercial remote sensing satellite imagery. However, there are several existing laws and regulations – many of which have been around well before the development of commercial remote sensing - that make procuring commercial satellite imagery difficult. As a result, the policy objectives are not fully met.
Framing the issue in terms of policies, instead of laws and regulations, hurts the geospatial community in a couple of ways. First, because doing so fails to identify the real reasons there has not been greater adoption of geospatial technologies. It is easy to say we need to change the policy. It is much harder to identify the specific law and regulation that needs to be changed, and harder still to determine how to change it. Calling for new policies does not mean that policy, law, and regulation are any better aligned.
The other reason framing the issue in terms of policy instead of law is harmful is that it often results in excluding the people who can help identify a solution (i.e., lawyers) from the discussion. In almost every other technology sector I follow (e.g., AI, space, drones) there are panels on laws and regulations impacting the sector at events comparable to GEOINT, UNGGIM, EsriUC or Geospatial World Forum. In those other venues you see lawyers explaining the issues and identifying possible solutions.
Hopefully, as laws and regulations around AI develop, the geospatial community will move away from only discussing policies to focusing more on laws and regulations, and how to align these.
Recommended Reading
The Age of AI Nationalism and Its Effects (Center for International Governance Innovation)
This paper explores the distinction between policies designed to advance domestic AI and policies that, with or without direct intent, hamper the production or trade of foreign-produced AI (known as “AI nationalism”).
The article discusses post-market monitoring, information sharing and enforcement provisions in EU Artificial Intelligence Act.
A Flexible Maturity Model for AI Governance Based on the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (IEEE USA)
The report presents a flexible maturity model to improve AI governance, leveraging the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
Governance in the Age of Generative AI: A 360° Approach for Resilient Policy and Regulation (World Economic Forum)
This white paper outlines strategies for resilient generative AI governance to address regulatory gaps, stakeholder-specific governance challenges and the evolving demands of this rapidly advancing technology.
The report is intended to be useful to AI developers, policymakers, and other nonlegal audiences who wish to understand the liability exposure that AI development may entail and how this exposure might be mitigated.
Proposal for a directive on adapting non-contractual civil liability rules to artificial intelligence: Complementary Impact Assessment (European Parliament Research Service)
The study critique discusses a European Commission's impact assessment on non-contractual civil liability rules to artificial intelligence, including a mixed liability framework that balances fault-based and strict liability.
The Deep Dive
The following is based on a talk I recently gave at the UNGGIM High Level Forum in Mexico City.)
As a community, geospatial professionals are no strangers to attending countless meetings and conferences across the globe. From the UN-GGIM Committee of Experts to the Esri User Conference, we gather to discuss the future of our field. But here is what might surprise you: the most important "meetings" that will shape the future of the geospatial ecosystem aren’t happening at these industry events. Instead, they are taking place in courtrooms across New York, London, Brussels, New Delhi, Beijing, and Tokyo, where lawsuits surrounding AI are being heard. They are also happening in legislative chambers worldwide, where laws and regulations governing AI are being crafted.
Why do I believe these meetings will determine the future of the geospatial ecosystem?
1. The integration of AI into geospatial technologies
Many sectors within our community are already using technologies powered by AI. The outcomes of these legal and regulatory “meetings” could directly impact how we operate and innovate going forward.
2. The growing role of geospatial data in AI applications
Every day, we hear about the critical role geospatial information plays in AI-driven applications aimed at solving global challenges like climate change and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The importance of geospatial data in these initiatives means that any changes in AI regulation will have ripple effects throughout our industry.
3. The unusual speed of legal and policy development
Unlike previous technological revolutions, lawmakers worldwide are acting early to develop a legal and policy framework for AI. Typically, the law lags technological advances. But in this case, the aim is to keep pace with AI or even get ahead of it. This proactive approach may result in mistakes or unintended consequences, including for the geospatial community.
4. The staggering financial stakes
The amount of investment pouring into AI is extraordinary. With so much at stake, these legal and regulatory decisions will determine who wins and who loses, potentially reshaping the landscape of entire industries, including ours.
5. Familiar legal challenges
The legal issues being discussed in these "meetings" are strikingly familiar to those in the geospatial field:
- How accurate, complete, and timely should datasets used in AI be?
- Who is liable for data errors?
- Who owns the data, and when does combining different datasets violate privacy?
- What are the national security implications of making this data available?
- Who has the authority to publish this information, and what happens if they are wrong?
These are questions many in the geospatial community face regularly, but now they are being asked on a global scale, with far-reaching consequences.
I suggest leaders of geospatial organizations schedule their own meeting, with their legal teams. The purpose of this meeting will be to explain how the geospatial organization plans to use AI and for the legal team to explain how current and future laws and court cases could affect those uses.