Artificial Intelligence and public authorities: does the European AI Act protect public values?

The AI Act of the European Union has established the world’s first regulation on artificial intelligence, adopting an approach proportional to the risk and defining the conditions under which an AI system can circulate in the EU and be used. It applies to both private entities and public administrations, the latter increasingly employing AI systems. In general terms, public authorities are obligated to adhere to rules in their actions that differ from those applicable to private entities, aimed at ensuring the transparency of their actions, the participation of interested private parties, the justification of decisions (duty to give reasons), equality, proportionality, and decisions’ reviewability. This aims to analyze the relationship between European regulation of AI and public values when public authorities are concerned