The "Council of Europe Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law" was approved during the annual ministerial meeting that brings together the foreign ministers of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, held in Strasbourg (France). In a statement, the council said that the treaty, also open to non-European countries, "establishes a legal framework covering the entire lifecycle of AI systems and addresses the risks they may pose, while promoting responsible innovation." "The Convention on Artificial Intelligence is an unprecedented global treaty that will ensure that AI upholds people's rights. It responds to the need for an international legal standard backed by states from different continents sharing the same values to harness the benefits of artificial intelligence while mitigating the risks," said Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic, quoted in the statement. Covering the use of AI systems in the public sector (including companies acting on its behalf) and in the private sector, the convention requires countries to use "measures to identify, assess, prevent and mitigate potential risks" of their use, such as "identifying content generated by AI systems". Parties are also asked to ensure "accountability and liability for adverse impacts", as well as "that AI systems respect equality, including gender equality, the prohibition of discrimination and privacy rights" and that there are "legal remedies for victims of human rights violations related to the use" of Artificial Intelligence. "The convention will not apply to matters of national defence or to research and development activities, except where testing of AI systems could potentially interfere with human rights, democracy or the rule of law." For effective implementation, a monitoring mechanism has been defined in the form of a Conference of the Parties and each country is required to "establish an independent supervisory mechanism to oversee [its] implementation (...), stimulate informed public debate and conduct multilateral consultations on how AI technology should be used". The treaty is the result of two years of work by the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI), which brought together the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, the European Union and 11 non-member states (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, United States, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Holy See and Uruguay), as well as representatives from the private sector, civil society and academia, who participated as observers. It may be signed during a conference of Ministers of Justice, which will take place on 5 September in Vilnius (Lithuania). The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to promoting democratic values and human rights founded in 1949, its bodies include the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the European Court of Human Rights, according to the government's diplomatic portal. Portugal became a full member of the organisation in September 1976, just over a month after applying for membership. Read Also: IDC: AI investment in Portugal will exceed 100 million euros (Portuguese version)