The head of Italy’s privacy watchdog has expressed hope that OpenAI would be able to adjust its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, so that it could be back online in Italy by the end of April. This follows the country’s decision to temporarily block the chatbot in late March due to concerns over data privacy.
The Data Protection Authority’s chief, Pasquale Stanzione, mentioned that they were willing to reinstate the chatbot by April 30 if OpenAI is willing to take “useful steps”. OpenAI’s response to the conditions the Italian watchdog has set to reinstate the chatbot will be seen soon.
The chatbot’s release last year had caused a sensation due to its ability to generate essays, songs, exams, and news articles from brief prompts. This success had made it a worthy partner for Microsoft’s Bing search engine and other programmes and had also drawn the attention of many other technology firms as well as venture capitalists.
Critics raised a concern over the unclear nature of the data collected for training the algorithms underlying the chatbot and its competitors’ operations. This made the Italian Data Protection Authority halt the use of ChatGPT, as the company had failed to provide a legal basis to justify the mass collection and storage of personal data.
The authority had also pointed out how the wrong answers given by the chatbot were being handled inappropriately and how it could expose children to complex issues by providing unsuitable answers. Stanzione has stated that users’ ages must be verified and OpenAI must “indicate a method to reduce the risk of wrong answers”. It was also emphasised that users should be aware of the fact that their data is being collected for the training of the algorithm.
OpenAI is a US firm that produces AI-based technology. It was founded by renowned computer scientist and entrepreneur, Elon Musk. Funding was provided by tech giants such as Google and Microsoft, as well as venture capitalists from from Silicon Valley. OpenAI has already received a multibillion-dollar deal from Microsoft. This has demonstrated the success of its AI-based technology.
