European Parliament Votes In World’s First Artificial Intelligence Rules And Legislation
The European Union has just passed the world’s first restrictions and legislation on how companies can use artificial intelligence in what is being seen as a major blow to global tech giants and their hold on the new technology.
The EU AI Act will ban any systems allowing an “unacceptable level of risk” in their functions, be it social scoring tools like those used in China to predictive policing.
“High-risk AI” – such as the type of algorithm that can influence one’s votes – is also being limited.
Generative AI, like ChatGPT, will face new boundaries, with companies potentially being required to publish summaries of any copyrighted data used to train their AI programmes.
Following the vote, Roberta Metsola joked how she had asked ChatGPT what she should say about AI in her speech, with the programme telling her:
“I suggest you to highlight the importance of responsible AI development and usage. You could talk about the potential benefits of AI in improving efficiency and solving complex problems, but also address concerns around privacy, bias, and job displacement. You could also emphasize the need for collaboration between policymakers, industry experts, and the public to ensure that AI is developed in a way that benefits society as a whole.”
“The answer shows that that Artificial Intelligence is already very much part of our daily lives,” Metsola said. “Moreover, it raises a number of questions related to ethics, scrutiny, innovation and the essential need to get the right regulatory framework in place.”
“So let me, as a real person, thank co-rapporteurs Brando Benifei (S&D, IT) and Dragoş Tudorache (Renew, RO), for their hard work and for having found a balanced and human-centred approach to the world’s first AI Act. Legislation that will no doubt be setting the global standard for years to come.”
Do you think this legislation is the right approach to controlling AI in the coming years?
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