In a groundbreaking move, the European Union (EU) has edged closer to passing one of the world’s first comprehensive laws governing artificial intelligence (AI).
What is the AI Act?
The European Parliament, the main legislative branch of the EU, has approved the text of draft legislation known as the AI Act, aiming to establish a global standard for the regulation of AI technology. Notably, the act includes a sweeping ban on the use of live facial recognition technology by police in public places.
The AI Act is a proposed European law on artificial intelligence (AI) – the first law on AI by a major regulator anywhere. The law assigns applications of AI to three risk categories.
- First, applications and systems that create an unacceptable risk, such as government-run social scoring of the type used in China, are banned.
- Second, high-risk applications, such as a CV-scanning tool that ranks job applicants, are subject to specific legal requirements.
- Lastly, applications not explicitly banned or listed as high-risk are largely left unregulated.
The AI Act encompasses a wide range of AI applications, from automated medical diagnoses and Deepfake videos to AI Chatbots like ChatGPT and certain types of drones. By taking this decisive step, the EU hopes to assume a leadership role in shaping the future of AI, while also addressing the ethical and societal implications associated with its use.
Why the need for an AI Act now?
AI can be used constructively. For example, it can help diagnose cancer you don’t have yet or help cure autism in children. But without properly framed AI regulations, AI can give you biased answers and spread misinformation leading to destabilization. Some of the inherent problems that the world has started seeing include generative AI causing a disruption in the employment market. Deepfake AI can be used in the political context, one of the recent examples being the Dutch Parliamentarians having a conversation via Zoom with a deep fake version of Alexis Navalny, the Russian Opposition Leader. This can lead to MPs being discouraged from speaking with foreign opposition parties.
AI can be used to create ‘slaughterbots’ or robots that kill targets autonomously without human intervention. Unregulated AI Warfare can be catastrophic in the near future.
Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, emphasized the need for swift action and responsible governance in the face of AI’s societal, ethical, and economic challenges.
With a final vote of 499 in favour, 28 against, and 93 abstentions, the European parliament demonstrated a clear majority in support of the legislation. EU leaders may push back on the ban on biometrics, as law enforcement agencies across the continent perceive the potential of facial recognition technology in recognizing criminals and enhancing counter-terrorism efforts. Under the proposed law, emotional recognition, which is currently employed in parts of China to identify tired truck drivers, will also be banned in workplaces and schools as reported by The Guardian.
European parliament president Roberta Metsola hailed the legislation as setting a global standard for years to come and declared that a new era of scrutiny had begun.
Stringent Rules on AI Development Aim to Safeguard Society
The Guardian in a recent article addressed concerns about copyright infringement as the AI Act will require developers of AI Chatbots to publish all the works used to train them, including those of scientists, musicians, illustrators, photographers, and journalists. Developers must also demonstrate that their training methods comply with the law. Failure to comply could result in immediate application deletions or fines of up to 7% of revenue, potentially amounting to hundreds of millions of euros for major tech companies, as stated by the Guardian.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief, emphasized the need to strike a balance between privacy concerns and security considerations while shaping the legislation.
The AI Act’s provisions on facial recognition technology and stringent rules on AI development and deployment aim to protect individuals’ rights and ensure responsible AI usage in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.
