AI used by the state: Safeguarding autonomy and human rights with transparency to citizens and support for public servants
he "AI used by the state" project has been successfully completed, making a significant contribution to the crucial need for transparency in the state's use of Artificial Intelligence. Specifically, the scientific work focused on the introduction and implementation of an AI transparency register for public administration. Research Associate Dr. Jonas Botta secured funding for this from the VolkswagenFoundation as part of the "Transformative Knowledge for Democracies in Transition" initiative. The aim was to develop a viable framework for such a register, inspired by pioneers like the Netherlands, along with the necessary legal requirements for its implementation in Germany. The project also considered the stipulations of the new European AI Regulation and the remaining scope for national regulation. The project greatly benefited from collaboration with the non-governmental organisation "AlgorithmWatch" and the administrative network "NExT e. V.", allowing crucial insights from civil society and administrative practice to directly inform the scientific work.
As a central outcome of the project, Dr. Botta produced a comprehensive legal opinion on the framework conditions for a national AI transparency register (https://doi.org/10.3790/verw.2025.411108). Building on this, the three project partners then created a Policy Paper to establish a foundation for a societal and political debate on the introduction of such a register (https://algorithmwatch.org/de/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2505-Policy-Papier_KI-Transparenzregister.pdf). It contains detailed explanations of the necessary legal framework, a technical and organisational concept, and concrete policy recommendations.
The project results have been covered by various media outlets (in German):
