OECD AI Principles
In plain wordsGuidelines for trustworthy AI that governments agreed through the OECD in 2019, the first such standard agreed between governments; many later laws and agreements borrowed from them.
The principles set out in the Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence (OECD/LEGAL/0449) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which the OECD calls 'the first intergovernmental standard on AI'. Five values-based principles — inclusive growth, sustainable development and well-being; human rights and democratic values, including fairness and privacy; transparency and explainability; robustness, security and safety; and accountability — are paired with five recommendations to governments on research investment, enabling ecosystems, interoperable policy, human capacity and international cooperation. The Recommendation's definition of an AI systemAI system, n.: A complete piece of technology that uses AI to do something, such as screening loan applications, driving a car or chatting with customers, including the AI model and the software around it., revised in November 2023, was closely followed by the EU AI ActEU AI Act, prop. n.: The European Union's law on artificial intelligence, the first broad AI law anywhere: it bans some uses, sets strict checks for risky ones and puts duties on the makers of the biggest AI models. and the Framework Convention on Artificial IntelligenceFramework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: The first binding international treaty on AI, drawn up by the Council of Europe, in which countries promise that AI used by governments and businesses will respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law..
The bill borrows its definition of an AI system from the OECD AI Principles.
Origin
Drafted with input from an OECD expert group on AI (AIGO) and adopted by the OECD Council at ministerial level on 22 May 2019; in June 2019 the G20 based its non-binding AI Principles on them. Revised on 3 May 2024 to address generative AI, misinformation, safety and information integrity.
Usage note
Non-binding 'soft law', although OECD Recommendations carry a political commitment. As of October 2026 the Recommendation had 47 adherents: all OECD members and a number of non-members. The OECD.AI Policy Observatory tracks implementation, and the OECD AI Incidents Monitor logs AI incidentsAI incident, n.: A real-world case in which an AI system, through a flaw, a breakdown or the way someone used it, ends up hurting people, property or rights, as in an injury, a wrongful arrest or a privacy breach..
Related
- AI governanceAI governance, n.: The rules, institutions and habits that shape how AI is built and used — from laws and treaties to technical standards and a company's own review processes.
- AI systemAI system, n.: A complete piece of technology that uses AI to do something, such as screening loan applications, driving a car or chatting with customers, including the AI model and the software around it.
- Global Partnership on Artificial IntelligenceGlobal Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: An international group of countries, launched in 2020 and now run together with the OECD, that brings governments and experts together to put trustworthy AI into practice.
- G7 Hiroshima AI ProcessG7 Hiroshima AI Process, prop. n.: An effort begun by the G7 group of wealthy democracies in Japan in 2023 that sets voluntary rules for companies building the most advanced AI, which now report publicly on how they follow them.
- trustworthy AItrustworthy AI, n.: AI that deserves people's trust because it works reliably, obeys the law, treats people fairly and can be checked, rather than AI that people merely happen to trust.
- UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AIUNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, prop. n.: A worldwide set of ethical principles for AI that all of UNESCO's member countries agreed in 2021, covering human rights, fairness, privacy, the environment, gender equality and education.
Sources
- OECD (2019, amended 2023 and 2024). Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence. OECD/LEGAL/0449.
- OECD.AI Policy Observatory. OECD AI Principles overview. oecd.ai/en/ai-principles
Mentioned in
AI governanceAI governance, n.: The rules, institutions and habits that shape how AI is built and used — from laws and treaties to technical standards and a company's own review processes., EU AI ActEU AI Act, prop. n.: The European Union's law on artificial intelligence, the first broad AI law anywhere: it bans some uses, sets strict checks for risky ones and puts duties on the makers of the biggest AI models., Framework Convention on Artificial IntelligenceFramework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: The first binding international treaty on AI, drawn up by the Council of Europe, in which countries promise that AI used by governments and businesses will respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law., G7 Hiroshima AI ProcessG7 Hiroshima AI Process, prop. n.: An effort begun by the G7 group of wealthy democracies in Japan in 2023 that sets voluntary rules for companies building the most advanced AI, which now report publicly on how they follow them., human oversighthuman oversight, n.: Keeping people able to watch, understand, question and, if necessary, stop or overrule an AI system, rather than letting it act unchecked., trustworthy AItrustworthy AI, n.: AI that deserves people's trust because it works reliably, obeys the law, treats people fairly and can be checked, rather than AI that people merely happen to trust., UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AIUNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, prop. n.: A worldwide set of ethical principles for AI that all of UNESCO's member countries agreed in 2021, covering human rights, fairness, privacy, the environment, gender equality and education., Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AIEthics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, prop. n.: Guidelines written for the European Commission by an expert group in 2019, listing seven requirements AI should meet to be trustworthy; they paved the way for the EU AI Act., Global Partnership on Artificial IntelligenceGlobal Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: An international group of countries, launched in 2020 and now run together with the OECD, that brings governments and experts together to put trustworthy AI into practice.