Last year, the Spanish government and the European Commission introduced the first regulatory sandbox for AI, fostering collaboration between AI developers and regulatory authorities to establish best practices in accordance with the upcoming European Commission's AI Act. Financed through the Spanish Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, the project is anticipated to cost approximately 4.3 million euros over three years and aims to enable the development, testing, and validation of innovative AI systems, ensuring compliance with the impending AI regulations.

The sandbox pilot not only operationalizes the future AI regulation's mandates but also includes conformity assessments and post-market activities. The initiative's outcomes will include methods for control and follow-up, critical for supervising national authorities tasked with implementing the regulatory mechanisms outlined in the AI Act. By fostering collaboration between innovators and regulators, the initiative aims to generate user-friendly, future-proof guidelines and supportive materials in adopting the AI regulation requirements. This will be beneficial to companies in the localization industry, especially for SMEs.

Whilst the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act will likely come into effect in 2026, after the sandbox, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has already made some standards available that may help companies set measures to evaluate and prevent specific risks related to the use of AI, specifically ISO/IEC 23894:2023 (Guidance on risk management) and ISO/IEC 42001:2023 (Artificial Intelligence Management System (AIMS)). We will delve into the multiple AI-related ISOs and provide a comparative summary.

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) are considering the aforementioned ISO/IEC standards for adoption in support of the Artificial Intelligence Act, particularly ISO/IEC 42001:2023 regarding the conformity assessment requirements. Whether AI is used for translation, content creation, quality evaluation, or in management processes, companies within the localization industry will be required to conform to upcoming AI regulations. Join me as we explore the sandbox and the ISOs that could help support the implementation of AI related standards.

Host organization: Globalization and Localization Association