AI Business Regulations Could Be Stricter In Northern Ireland

AI has been quickly changing the working landscape over the last few months. There are many critics of AI who say that it will put a lot of people out of work and who also say that it is too impersonal and generic to be as good as the work of a real bona-fide human being.

But many businesses have welcomed the advent of AI with open arms, and believe that there are many processes where Artificial Intelligence is really useful in speeding up work and improving the quality of the output. It doesn’t have to replace humans but complement them. Whatever side of the divide you fall on, there is no doubt that the use of AI is here to stay and the software will get better and better as time goes on.

The Move May Be More Symbolic Than Strictly Necessary

So the news that AI business regulations in Northern Ireland could be stricter than in the rest of the UK is definitely a concern. Here is an excerpt from an article on the Irish Legal News website which gives us the rundown on this subject. It reads:

‘The European Commission yesterday formally proposed adding the EU AI Act to the list of legislation which continues to apply in Northern Ireland post-Brexit.

‘The decision on whether to add the landmark law to Annex 2 of the Windsor Framework will be made by a joint EU-UK committee when it next meets.

‘The move “is arguably more symbolic than strictly necessary from a commercial standpoint, given that any company in Northern Ireland already intending to place AI products on the EU market must comply with the Regulation’s requirements”, Dr Barry Scannell told Irish Legal News.

‘However, Dr Scannell, a partner in the technology department of Irish law firm William Fry, added: “The move may raise political concerns, as it further embeds Northern Ireland into the EU’s legal order in a sensitive and fast-moving area of technological regulation.

“While it avoids a hard border on the island of Ireland, it deepens the regulatory gulf between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK — given the deregulation route the UK is taking with AI.

“This could have the effect of reinforcing a dual-rule system that could, over time, challenge the coherence of the UK’s internal market.

“It potentially puts an AI company operating in Belfast at a disadvantage to one operating in Brighton.”

‘The EU AI Act, formally known as Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, entered into force in August 2024 and is being phased in over the next two years.

‘Under its risk-based approach, different types of AI systems are subject to different levels of regulation based on their associated risk.’

It is hugely important that AI is regulated to ensure no person or organisation is compromised by its use, but we also need to ensure that all parts of the UK are treated equally, which may not be the case in this instance.