ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, has finally been restored in Italy after the Italian data-protection authority imposed a ban for privacy concerns at the start of April. OpenAI, the company behind the chatbot, which is backed by Microsoft, worked to address the issues raised and successfully got the chatbot back online with enhanced transparency regarding privacy policy.
OpenAI committed to offering a tool that will be used to verify users’ ages upon sign-up in order to ensure that all ChatGPT users are over the age of 13 as stated in their policy. The company also said they will provide a new form to European Union users to exercise their right to object to its use of personal data to train its models. OpenAI expressed appreciation that Garante was collaborative, saying that it will continue ongoing constructive discussions with the Italian data-protection authority.
Garante welcomed the measures provided by OpenAI but encourages more compliance, particularly with the implementation of an age verification system for users and an information campaign to inform Italian citizens what happened, as well as their rights with regards to opting out from processing their personal data for training algorithms.
Since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022, millions of people have used it. It presents itself as a natural, human-like language that is able to engage and interact with users. ChatGPT is often used to answer questions as it can mimic different writing styles. Microsoft has spent billions of dollars for the application and it was included in the search engine Bing last month, as well as in Office apps, such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook.
Google has its own AI-powered chatbot called Bard, but it is only available to specific, registered users over the age of 18. With ChatGPT being restored in Italy, this means that anyone in the country over the age of 13 can access its AI technology. CHatGPT can be a useful tool for them, allowing them to use natural language to communicate with a computer and have an interactive experience.
