Incident reporting and investigation under the AI act: some insights from aviation

Abstract This article examines the provisions of the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) on incident reporting and investigation and explores how the regulatory context of the AIA could benefit from the experience of aviation. Accounting for the differences between the AI and the aviation industries, it is concluded that the establishment of a strong safety culture is a key element, while a series of interventions could significantly improve the current AIA system on incident reporting: (i) clarification of the reporting duties, including the development of a common taxonomy of risk or harm, alongside the expansion of the duty’s personal scope; (ii) disconnection of incident reporting and investigation from liability; (iii) establishment of voluntary reporting systems; (iv) provisions on confidentiality of the reports and protection of the reporters; (v) mandatory investigation of at least some serious incidents by an independent authority; and (vi) effective dissemination of safety information. A major enabler of all these is the development of a strong safety culture.