Artificial intelligence has brought many societal changes and is transforming the way to do business. AI systems are pushing the boundaries of machine capabilities, cutting down the time required to complete certain tasks, enabling the accomplishment of complex operations that exceed human capacity, and easing repetitive decision-making processes. The opportunities offered by these technologies are countless. Yet, AI solutions can have detrimental consequences for individuals and society. In particular, the processing of information using AI systems also entails risks to the rights and freedoms of individuals such as the lack of respect for human autonomy, the production of material or moral harms, discrimination and lack of transparency in the decision-making process.
Whereas these features reveal the potential of artificial intelligence to support most of the activities performed by individuals, it also triggers many crucial questions, in particular, regarding the adequacy and sufficiency of the EU legal framework on data protection to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals when their personal information is processed using AI systems.
This work explains the main challenges faced by the General Data Protection Regulation to protect individuals against the negative impacts of AI. The core of this work is to assess the extent to which the processing of personal data using AI systems complies with the requirements established in the GDPR and how the risks to the fundamental rights of individuals posed by these processing operations can be mitigated and it delivers detailed guidance on how high-level principles or fundamental values required by the relevant legislative framework could be implemented, concretised or translated into practical and operational requirements.