Already since 2017, the Czech Republic has been very active in promoting assessment of artificial intelligence from the legal point of view not only on the national, but also on the international level.
In 2018, the Czech Republic submitted a document for consideration to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on legal aspects of smart contracts and artificial intelligence. In this document the Czech Republic proposed to undertake close monitoring of developments of these technologies and to consider future work in these areas.
In 2018, the Czech Republic also submitted the Proposal on Artificial Intelligence to the UNIDROIT (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law). This proposal focuses on contracts governing use of AI products and services and suggests that “it is necessary to assess what would be a fair distribution of rights and obligations in contracts for provision of intelligent products and services and draft model rules for this specific type of a contract”.
At the same year, the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic also initiated extensive research on development potential of AI. The research team carried out a detailed analysis that resulted in three specialized reports (available only in Czech): Research, technological and business background in the CR, Expected socioeconomic impacts of AI development, and Legal and ethical aspects related to the development of AI and its applications. The key findings and recommendations are presented in a summary report which is available both in Czech as well as in English.
In 2019, the Czech Republic published its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS). The NAIS is divided into seven chapters, each of which is devoted to a specific area:
- Chapter 1: Promotion and concentration of science, research and development
- Chapter 2: Financing research and development, investment support and the development of the AI ecosystem in the Czech Republic
- Chapter 3: AI in industry, services and public administration, economic growth, growth of wages and overall competitiveness of the Czech Republic
- Chapter 4: Human capital and the education system together with lifelong learning
- Chapter 5: Measures to address the impacts of the AI on the labour market and the social system
- Chapter 6: Legal and societal aspects of AI, ethical rules, consumer protection and security issues
- Chapter 7: International cooperation
In 2019, the Czech Republic also prepared its position non-paper for the EU titled Regulatory Framework for Artificial Intelligence in the European Union. In this document the CR recommends to refrain from initial overregulation of the technology, to promote self-regulation and soft-law based on best practices, and to define horizontal red lines as a means of ensuring the protection of fundamental rights as well as legal certainty.