Artificial intelligence

Scope

There is no statute in force in Türkiye that generally defines or regulates artificial intelligence; the use of artificial intelligence is assessed under the general rules of personal data protection, intellectual property, consumer, contract and liability law. The European Union Artificial Intelligence Regulation defines an AI system as a machine-based system that is designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy, may exhibit adaptiveness after deployment, and, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers from the input it receives how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations or decisions (Art. 3/1). According to the Regulation’s recitals, systems that automatically execute operations solely according to rules defined beforehand by natural persons do not fall within this definition; the distinguishing feature is the capability to infer. On the public side, Presidential Circular No. 2021/18 relating to the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (2021–2025) was published in the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) of August 20, 2021.

Practical significance

If an AI system processes personal data, the principles and processing conditions of Law No. 6698 apply; the data subject may object to the emergence of a result against them from the analysis of their data exclusively by automated systems (Art. 11/1-g). The EU Regulation may also apply to providers that place AI systems on the Union market even if established outside the Union, and to providers and deployers of systems whose output is used in the Union (Art. 2/1); it may therefore also affect Turkish companies that offer products or services to the EU. The Regulation sets obligations according to risk level and applies in stages; because the application dates have been updated by later amendments, the consolidated text in force should be used as the basis.

Commonly confused concepts

Artificial intelligence and an algorithm are not the same: an algorithm is a sequence of steps followed to reach a result and is found in every piece of software, whereas the EU definition is based on systems capable of inference. Generative artificial intelligence is a subtype of artificial intelligence that produces new text, images or audio. Automated decision-making and profiling, in turn, are data processing activities that can be carried out with artificial intelligence but can also take place without using it.