A/HRC/56/68 C. Emerging initiatives to regulate and manage artificial intelligence 51. States have begun to take promising steps to regulate and manage artificial intelligence. In the present section, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to some of these initiatives. Her non-exhaustive analysis is based on submissions from States and civil society groups, as well as on her country-based work and research conducted for the present report. 1. National initiatives 52. States have taken steps to regulate and manage artificial intelligence at the national level through both binding legal provisions and voluntary policy standards, as well as, in many cases, a mix of the two. For example, in Brazil, there are pending legislative provisions on the regulation of the technology space,76 including artificial intelligence. The Government has also adopted a number of relevant policy documents, such as a document entitled “Racism on the Internet: evidence for the formulation of digital policies”, which was reportedly developed by the Ministry of Racial Equality and contains measures to address algorithmic bias, including in relation to race.77 The Special Rapporteur welcomes efforts to develop dedicated and binding regulatory provisions, complemented by relevant policy standards. However, she received concerning information about the reported lack of effective consultation with and participation of people of African descent in the development of legislative provisions on the regulation of artificial intelligence, as well as a lack of overall coherence and consistency among different standards and the current practices of the State.78 53. The United States, which has reportedly taken steps to develop a mix of binding and voluntary standards on the use of artificial intelligence, offers another example. Following her recent visit to the country, the Special Rapporteur welcomed the signing of Executive Order 14110 on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence and the references therein to the risks of bias and discrimination in the use of artificial intelligence. In the preparation of the present report, the Special Rapporteur received further information about artificial intelligence regulation in the United States, including about work on an artificial intelligence bill of rights, as a voluntary standard, efforts in states such as Virginia, California and New York to regulate artificial intelligence and initiatives to facilitate voluntary pledges from business entities to develop safe, secure and transparent artificial intelligence. 79 The Special Rapporteur welcomes these efforts, although she is concerned that, despite robust research on the profound algorithmic racial bias in digital commercial products in the United States context, there is a lack of explicit reference to racial discrimination and bias in Executive Order 14110.80 54. Canada is reported to be developing a mix of binding and voluntary standards. The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act is currently in a draft form and is reported to include binding legal controls for high-risk artificial intelligence systems. In addition, Canada has developed voluntary standards, including the Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Responsible Development and Management of Advanced Generative AI Systems. It has also developed the Algorithmic Impact Assessment, a tool designed to help Government departments and agencies to assess and mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence, including those relating to discrimination and bias.81 76 77 78 79 80 81 14 Brazil submission. Group of experts from Brazil submission. Ibid. NetMission.Asia submission. See also Kay Firth-Butterfield, Karen Silverman and Benjamin Larsen, “Understanding the US ‘AI Bill of Rights’ – and how it can help keep AI Accountable”, World Economic Forum, 14 October 2022; United States, Office of Science and Technology Policy of the White House, “Blueprint for an AI bill of rights: making automated systems work for the American people”, white paper, October 2022; and United States, White House, “Fact sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration secures voluntary commitments from eight additional artificial intelligence companies to manage the risks posed by AI”, 12 September 2023. A/HRC/56/68/Add.1, para. 54. Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, “The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) – companion document”, 13 March 2023; and NetMission.Asia submission. GE.24-08849