Sandboxes in the Age of AI

Sandboxes offer an opportunity for experimental and anticipatory governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), providing secure environments in which innovators and regulators can come together to safely experiment with new technologies, practices, and business models. Sandboxes can enable iterative testing, reduce uncertainty, enhance competition, and foster collaboration between innovators and regulators (read our 5 minute introduction to sandboxes here). 

As part of the Global Sandboxes Forum (GSF), the Datasphere Initiative is preparing a report to situate the purpose and use of sandboxes in the context of AI. The report shares how sandboxes have been used in other sectors and presents the lessons learned and the potential for sandboxes in the AI space. 

Policy recommendations include enhancing capacity building among stakeholders, standardizing data governance frameworks, integrating privacy-enhancing technologies, supporting cross-sectoral and cross-border sandboxes. These measures aim to create robust, adaptive, and collaborative sandbox frameworks that address the complexities of AI development and deployment.

The report will be used as a common baseline for the work of the Global Sandboxes Forum on sandboxes and AI. It will be shared publicly as a resource for regulators who are considering developing sandboxes for AI in the context of their own national or regional legislations and companies who are participants or designing these sandboxes at regulatory or operational level. The Datasphere Initiative will launch the report at France’s AI Action Summit in February 2025.

The panel will convene experts to share thoughts and engage in a conversation on how sandboxes can be used to foster responsible AI.  Insights shared will be used to finalize the report and inform the next steps of the GSF’s work on sandboxes and AI. The meeting will help participants foster connections and consider what the intersection of regulatory innovation and responsible AI means in the Latin American context.

The summit will happen on December 2nd, 2024 as part of the Open America event that will take place on the ISC in Brasilia, Brazil. This event will be in-person only and will be in Portuguese (no translation provided).