Europe's AI Standoff: Unprecedented Legislation Sparks A Battle For Transparency And Control

Zinger Key Points
  • The EU is poised to tighten artificial intelligence regulations. On April 26th, the parliament will vote.
  • So far, Italy has been the only country to prohibit ChatGPT, although other EU countries have expressed concern.

The European Parliament is drafting stringent new regulations over the use of artificial intelligence, a group of senior EU legislators said in an open letter they plan to publish on Monday. 

EU lawmakers are committed to including elements in the bill intended to mandate "the development of AI in a direction that is human centric, safe, and trustworthy," according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal. 

The European Parliament's Committees on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE) will vote in joint committee on the draft report on landmark legislation to regulate AI, also known as the AI Act, next week on April 26. 

Read also: In Curious Move, Elon Musk Quietly Preps For Launch Of OpenAI Rival Shortly After Calling For Pause In AI Research

EU AI ACT Categorizes Three Type of Risks

The regulation categorizes AI applications into three risk categories. First, programs and systems that pose an unacceptable danger, such as Chinese government-run social scoring, are prohibited. Second, high-risk apps, such as a CV-scanning tool that evaluates job candidates, must follow strict regulatory guidelines. Finally, the majority of applications are left unregulated if they are not expressly prohibited or labeled as high-risk.

According to Axel Voss, a German MEP from the European People's Party and one of the principal drafters of the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act has recently urged AI companies – such as Microsoft Corp. MSFT, Alphabet, Inc. GOOGL, and Meta Platforms, Inc. META – to be more transparent. Adding that the European Union must prepare its citizens to distinguish between real and false information. 

Dragos Tudorache, a Romanian MEP from Renew Europe, also recently stated that when AI is used for misinformation, the EU must supervise and regulate the technology. 

Italy's Ban On ChatGPT

In March, the Italian data protection regulator, the "Garante della Privacy," put a temporary ban on Open AI's, ChatGPT, the AI chatbot backed by Microsoft, due to violations of data protection regulations. The Italian government agency said that the ban would be lifted if OpenAI met these standards by April 30.

Italy is the first Western country to take action against the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, but other European governments have expressed similar worries, although no bans have been issued so far. 

The Spanish authority stated that it had received no complaints about ChatGPT, but could not rule out further inquiry.
Privacy regulators in France and Ireland have contacted their Italian counterparts to learn more about the reasons for the ban on ChatGPT.

Now Read: Google Reportedly Goes Into 'Panic' As Samsung Considers Microsoft's Bing AI For Default Search Engine 

Photo: Shutterstock

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