3 Sources for audit criteria

Since AI and machine learning are rapidly evolving, the legal frameworks governing their application are still changing. Different countries are developing regulations to guide the development and use of AI. This chapter provides an overview of the regulatory landscape in the authoring nations. It also highlights international standards and guidelines that auditors can use to assess whether AI is being used safely and ethically.

Not all aspects of planning, development, and use of AI systems are clearly regulated. In such cases, auditors may refer to existing regulations or guidelines from related areas, such as information security or data protection.

This chapter first introduces AI-specific legal foundations and regulations. It then lists other guidelines, standards and best practices, and briefly explains which requirements from the related fields are typically relevant to AI.