Read International Coordination for Accountability in AI Governance: Key Takeaways from the Sixth Edition of the Athens Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence and the Rule of Lawhere.
Date:
Monday | December 9, 2024
Time:
10:00am - 6:00pm CET (followed by a reception for in-person participants)
Location:
In-person: OECD Headquarters | Paris, France (invitation-only)
Online: Zoom Event (open to the public)
The sixth edition, held under the patronage of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, is organized by:
The Roundtable is an official event in the lead up to France’s AI Action Summit.
The Sixth Edition of The Athens Roundtable on AI and the Rule of Law was hosted at the OECD Headquarters in Paris on December 9th, 2024, with a focus on enhancing international coordination for accountability in AI governance.
To safeguard the rule of law, democratic values, and global well-being, AI actors must urgently establish robust, internationally coordinated accountability mechanisms. This includes enforcing global standards for AI risk management, building an interoperable ecosystem for AI evaluations, and ensuring transparency and accessible information flows. Critical to this effort is the collaboration of key international institutions—such as the OECD, UN, G7, G20, UNESCO, AI Safety Institutes, the EU AI Office, and France’s AI Action Summit—along with the active engagement of civil society.
The Roundtable brought together leading AI decision-makers to develop actionable strategies for collective global accountability in AI governance. The goal was to rethink and refine incentive structures by embedding accountability across the AI lifecycle and fostering a globally coordinated, collaborative ecosystem where trustworthy AI can thrive.
The objectives of The Roundtable are:
Assess coordination efforts in the AI governance landscape, particularly through the lens of accountability: The Roundtable examined how leading institutions— such as the OECD, UN, G7, G20, UNESCO, AI Safety Institutes, the EU AI Office, and France’s AI Action Summit— are implementing and promoting accountability mechanisms within the AI governance ecosystem. It identified challenges in current efforts and aimed to promote enhanced collaboration and continuity across these initiatives to address these gaps.
Propose concrete objectives and deliverables for France’s AI Action Summit: As an official partner event leading to France’s AI Action Summit in February 2025, The Roundtable will inform and advance the summit’s agenda by proposing pertinent discussion topics and policy recommendations focused on accountability among global AI actors. A component of this involved presenting the results of a global consultation launched by The Future Society, AI & Society Institute, CNNum, Make.org, and the Tech and Global Affairs Innovation Hub of Sciences Po. The findings from the consultation were explored in The Roundtable with an aim to collectively recommend tangible deliverables that could be included within a “Paris Declaration.”
Strengthen collaboration between AI governance civil society organizations and advocate for their inclusion in global AI governance: The Roundtable emphasized the need for enhanced collaboration and active participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in shaping global AI governance. It encouraged a process for regular, structured dialogue among a diverse set of CSOs engaged in AI governance, fostering stronger cooperation and unity in their efforts to hold AI actors accountable for a spectrum of harms. Specifically, The Roundtable explored the establishment of a dedicated coalition of these CSOs, which would serve as a unified voice advocating for stronger AI governance, and be essential for democratizing AI governance and amplifying the voices of communities that may be disproportionately affected by AI impacts.
This year's edition was organized by The Future Society and, proudly, it is held under the patronage of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou. It is delivered in partnership with the OECD, UNESCO, France’s AI Action Summit, the AI & Society Institute, CNNum, Make.org, and Sciences Po’s Tech and Global Affairs Innovation Hub, with support from Arnold & Porter and Fathom. As an official event leading to France’s AI Action Summit, The Roundtable will directly inform and contribute to the Summit’s agenda and outcomes.
For a detailed view of the event schedule and participant bios, please see our agenda.
This document will be updated regularly leading up to the event.
This edition will bring together policymakers, AI developers, civil society leaders, academics, and actors from legal, judicial, and compliance systems for dynamic discussions in a roundtable format. View participants here.
