CMS Expert Guide to AI strategies in CEE

Artificial Intelligence (AI) provides a whole range of new opportunities but also includes new and unique risks for companies, governments and individuals within society. These opportunities and legal risks involve ethical, legal, liability and regulatory challenges.

As part of their push towards digital transformation, many businesses in CEE view AI as the key instrument of change, bringing solutions that help to deliver better productivity, speed and efficiency. In a recent survey conducted by CMS as part of our Digital Horizons series, 58% of the businesses with CEE operations surveyed are already using AI solutions, while a significant majority (83%) are planning AI-related investments.

The belief in AI’s full potential for businesses in each sector does not come without widespread concerns. In the same survey, a significant proportion of respondents (86%) are worried about potential legal liability issues while 60% are either concerned or very concerned about security risks. At present, only 4% of respondents believe that AI is over-regulated while over half (60%) would like to see more guidance and regulation on AI to be put in place.

As lawmakers in Europe (and beyond) hotly debate AI regulation – is it a necessary control or an innovation blocker? – companies try to predict where regulation will fall and navigate the potential gap between the law today and the law tomorrow. At the same time compliance policies and ethical guidelines are being considered and revised by global businesses to address the current digital challenges, and new and future technologies.

CMS has a long history of advising companies large and small to leverage the benefits of new technology including AI developments whilst limiting the possible legal risks. Our guide to AI strategies provides an overview of the AI strategies certain countries Central and Eastern European (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine) have in place, including government initiatives aimed at introducing legal regulatory framework and liability damages caused by AI.

This publication does not constitute legal advice. All legal matters must be decided on a case-by-case basis, in light of all circumstances and should be subject to a thorough legal assessment under local law.

For detailed legal advice, please contact our experts in the relevant jurisdictions, whose details are set out in the guide.