Welcome to our podcast series, REACHing Citizens, part of the \u201cReshaping Engagement through Affirmative Citizen Consultations (REACH)\u201d project. Launched in 2024 and funded by the European Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), the REACH project brings together organisations from across Europe, including Serbia, Belgium, Kosovo, BiH, Bulgaria, France, Croatia, and Greece.<\/p>\n
In this episode, we welcome Vladimir Krasenov, a young Bulgarian legal advisor with a strong interest in the European Union (EU) and its legal system. Vladimir became involved with the REACH project after attending a local citizen consultation in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in November 2024. He also contributed an article to the Mladirini youth portal titled \u201cThe rule of law and the U.S. elections: The influence of perspectives as a premise of people\u2019s decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the podcast, Vladimir explores recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and their implications for the rule of law in the EU, with a focus on Bulgaria. He discusses core legal principles such as respect for human rights, regulatory enforcement, transparency, and fairness in the application of law.<\/p>\n
Vladimir begins by examining how AI is transforming society, particularly in education and business. While these changes offer significant benefits, they also pose major risks. In the legal field, AI enhances efficiency\u2014streamlining legal research, improving contract analysis, detecting infringements, and reducing fraud. Yet serious concerns remain, especially around lack of transparency, difficulty verifying algorithmic impartiality, and risks of bias in automated decision-making.<\/p>\n
The conversation then shifts to the role of the EU and other global players in shaping and regulating AI. Vladimir highlights the significance of the AI Act, approved by the European Parliament in 2024. This legislation marks a major step in safeguarding citizens from AI-related risks. It categorises AI systems by risk level, with those posing an \u201cunacceptable risk\u201d (i.e. violating fundamental rights) subject to strict limitations. The Act also addresses privacy protection and copyright concerns.<\/p>\n
However, Vladimir notes the challenges the EU faces in competing with global tech powers like the US and China. While the US dominates with firms like OpenAI and Google, China invests heavily in AI giants such as DeepSeek. These countries are in a race to advance AI capabilities, often pushing the boundaries of regulation. The US lacks comprehensive ethical guidelines, while China\u2019s approach raises serious privacy issues, particularly through biometric surveillance technologies used for state control. These tools collect and analyse facial data on a massive scale, yet the storage, use, and oversight of this data remain opaque.<\/p>\n
Vladimir warns that adopting such technologies in Europe could severely undermine privacy rights, especially for vulnerable populations such as refugees and asylum seekers. Without robust legal safeguards, AI could threaten the foundational values of the EU.<\/p>\n
To realise AI\u2019s potential while mitigating its risks, Vladimir stresses the importance of public awareness and engagement. European citizens and policymakers must stay informed and actively participate in discussions on AI. Ethical, transparent, and rights-respecting AI development is crucial. According to Vladimir, the guiding principles must be transparency, fairness, and accountability.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Welcome to our podcast series, REACHing Citizens,\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":381568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-381565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-talks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/podcast.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}