Frederica Onori addresses the conference in London on 15 December 2025LONDON, 16 December 2025 – At a Parliamentary Conference on Artificial Intelligence held this week in London, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on Artificial Intelligence Federica Onori (Italy) underscored the urgent need for a cross-dimensional approach to AI governance.
Onori emphasized in particular how AI’s borderless nature demands collaboration across human rights, security, and democratic institutions to safeguard stability and public trust.
“AI is no longer an abstract topic,” she said. “Its decisions and outputs increasingly touch people’s lives, shaping how we work, communicate, and engage in public life. Enacting law merely for the sake of it does not help. Our approach should focus mainly on monitoring: when we have a clear understanding of AI’s impact, parliaments can act responsibly and make informed decisions. While media and AI literacy are important, the development of critical thinking will be also essential for navigating these technologies effectively. And we should help provide the tools to citizens for its use.”
The two-day conference, co-organized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Parliament of the United Kingdom, was held at the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster on 15–16 December. It brought together parliamentarians, policymakers, legal experts, and representatives from international organizations to address AI’s transformative potential and challenges. Key objectives included fostering knowledge exchange and empowering parliaments to enact policies that uphold democratic values, human rights, and the rule of law.
In her remarks, Special Representative Onori highlighted the challenges AI poses for decision-making and public trust: “AI can give the illusion of truth, so it is essential that parliaments and lawmakers become fully aware of this. At the OSCE PA, we aim to help parliaments understand AI’s impact across human rights, security, and democratic processes, and to provide tools for informed oversight. AI must be openly discussed, debated, and monitored so that decisions are responsible, transparent, and serve the public interest.”
She described the OSCE’s unique perspective, noting that the organization’s comprehensive approach to security provides a framework for understanding AI as a truly cross-dimensional challenge that spans human rights, elections, security, economic resilience, media freedom, and public trust. It therefore requires co-ordination across parliamentary, governmental, and operational pillars, she stressed.
As Special Representative, Onori stressed that the OSCE PA’s work on AI focuses on supporting parliaments in understanding and overseeing these technologies, fostering dialogue across institutions and stakeholders, and promoting frameworks that safeguard human rights, security, and democratic processes.
The event, which featured addresses from the Rt Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons; Theodoros Rousopoulos, President of PACE; Bjorn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe; and Dr. Michael O’Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights, concluded with a call-to-action emphasizing parliaments’ role in promoting responsible AI.
For more on the work of the OSCE PA Special Representative on Artificial Intelligence, please click here.
