On Thursday, the European Union’s chief data regulator announced the formation of a taskforce that will help countries grapple with the rapidly growing AI chatbot program, ChatGPT. This initiative was prompted by concerns that the program fails to comply with Europe’s privacy laws. Last month, Italy imposed a temporary ban on the program due to these fears.
In response to five complaints, the French regulatory body, CNIL, started a formal procedure. Similarly, Spain’s AEPD data protection authority started its own investigation into ChatGPT and its American owner, OpenAI.
ChatGPT has the capabilities to write essays, poems, and conversations from the most basic of prompts. This has caused worry as it can easily be used to cheat in school, spread misinformation on the internet, and replace human workers in the job market. The chatbot also needs to be trained on large datasets, which raises the issue of data collecting and if it is managed correctly.
The French agency was informed by an MP, Eric Bothorel, who reported that the bot had invented facts about him, including birth date and job history. Despite the growing concern, OpenAI has promised to comply with GDPR and has said that it is committed to protecting people’s privacy. Italy imposed actions that the American company must take to get back into the country, such as providing a legal basis for data-gathering.
OpenAI is an American company in San Francisco, California that was formed in 2015. It is an AI lab that specializes in machine learning research and solving complex problems. The company is currently backed by Microsoft and other high-profile investors. Eric Bothorel is a French MP and a longtime advocate of privacy and digital rights. He has been vocal in his criticism of the potential misuse of the ChatGPT chatbot. He was the first to bring up complaints about the ChatGPT to the French regulator.
It is essential to maintain a balance between the growth of AI technology and the privacy of citizens. The powerful agencies of the European Union are taking the necessary steps to ensure that this is the case.
