The European Union Parliament has taken an important step towards regulating artificial intelligence (AI), paving the way for global authorities to follow suit. By approving the AI Act draft legislation, the European Union has become one of the first governing bodies to address the risks posed by AI and seek to establish comprehensive regulations to govern its development and use.
The legislation focuses on high-risk applications of AI, such as facial recognition apps and other systems that could potentially pose harm to humans. The Act mandates that AI developers disclose more information about the data used to train their systems and carry out risk evaluations before their technology can be released to the public.
The deployment of facial recognition technology is a highly contentious topic, with the European Parliament agreeing to prohibit live facial recognition. However, it remains unclear whether any exceptions should be made for national security or law enforcement purposes. The measure would also make it illegal for businesses to harvest biometric data from social media sites, a controversial technique employed by facial recognition firm Clearview AI.
The AI Act also sets out increased disclosure obligations for systems that generate content in response to input, such as ChatGPT. Creators of generative AI systems would need to include protections to avoid the creation of illicit content.
While the European Union hopes to lead the way in AI legislation, there have been calls for a balance between innovation and oversight. The Computer and Communications Industry Association believes that future regulations should allow developers to create beneficial AI applications while addressing stated concerns.
Following the European Parliament’s approval, negotiations will now take place between the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to finalize the AI Act. The European Union’s measures provide a potential blueprint for other areas dealing with AI advancement. By passing the AI Act, the European Union is taking significant steps towards protecting its citizens and facilitating technological advancements in the field of AI.
