Overview of the Book

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the state of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially machine learning (ML) applications in public service delivery in Estonia, discussing the manifold ethical and legal issues that arise under both European and Estonian law. Final conclusions and recommendations set out and analyze various policy options for the public sector, taking into account recent developments at the European level – such as the AIA proposal – as well as the experience of countries that have issued principles and guidelines or even laws for the use of ML in the public sector.

Relevance and Research Context

“For two reasons, this study is relevant not only for an audience which is interested in Estonian administrative law. First, the authors base their legal analysis primarily on EU law and provide a state of the art-analysis of the relevant secondary legislation. This makes the book a reference text for the European debate on public sector AI governance. Second, this study is part of a larger research project in which four specific use cases of public sector AI have been developed and tested. The practical insights gained in these projects have provided the authors with an excellent understanding of the opportunities and risks of the technology, which distinguishes this legal analysis from similar enterprises.” Excerpt from the foreword by Professor Thomas Wischmeyer (University of Bielefeld)