Greece Embeds AI Safeguards in Constitutional Revision

The draft constitution amendment requires artificial intelligence to serve individual freedom and societal prosperity, stating that AI “shall serve the freedom of the individual and the prosperity of society, ensuring that risks are mitigated and that the advantages it provides are fully realized.” The provision is part of a broader package of revisions that must pass two successive parliamentary votes.

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Following the major financial crisis eight years ago, Greece accelerated digital reforms, deploying AI in border surveillance, tax administration, and a unified e-government platform that handles services from divorce filings to ticket sales. In the month before the amendment proposal, the cabinet announced a ban on social-media access for children under 16, framing it as a push for EU-wide regulation.

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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the governing center-right party, presented the amendment, emphasizing responsibility to future generations. Evripidis Stylianidis, the government’s chief lawmaker on constitutional matters, argued that AI touches all human rights and must be anchored in the constitution to curb the power of private platforms.

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The revision package also expands mandatory schooling from nine to eleven years, extends postal voting, bans retroactive taxation, and maintains the proposed social-media ban for minors under sixteen. These measures are presented as a comprehensive response to challenges such as climate change, water resource protection, and AI-related risks.

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Mitsotakis framed the AI clause as essential to protect future generations from emerging risks, linking it to broader societal challenges. Stylianidis stressed that AI impacts all human rights and requires constitutional oversight. The amendment must secure successive votes in both parliamentary chambers, typically with cross-party support, before a second vote is required.

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• “It’s very important that, in this process of constitutional revision, we take care of the world that will host our children,” — Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece

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• “This great revolution must also be constitutionally placed at the service of individual freedom and social well-being.” — Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece

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• “Artificial intelligence shall serve the freedom of the individual and the prosperity of society, ensuring that risks are mitigated and that the advantages it provides are fully realized.” — Proposed constitutional amendment (Greece)

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• “The protection and proper use of artificial intelligence touches all human rights in daily life and is something that must concern us in the constitutional revision.” — Evripidis Stylianidis, lead lawmaker on the constitutional revision

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