EU agrees on landmark artificial intelligence laws

World EU agrees on landmark artificial intelligence laws The agreement reached in Brussels took three days of negotiations, including an initial 22-hour session that commenced on Wednesday afternoon. The details of the final agreement were not immediately disclosed, as discussions were anticipated to persist behind the scenes to complete technical details FP Staff December 09, 2023 10:47:51 IST Image- AP European Union lawmakers reached a consensus on a far-reaching new legislation aimed at regulating artificial intelligence (AI), marking one of the world’s earliest comprehensive efforts to control the utilisation of this rapidly advancing technology with broad societal and economic implications. Known as the A.

I. Act, this legislation establishes a new global standard for nations aspiring to leverage the potential advantages of AI while striving to mitigate potential risks, including the automation of jobs, the dissemination of online misinformation and threats to national security. While addressing a news conference, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola termed the law a “balanced and human-centred approach” that she stressed will “no doubt be setting the global standard for years to come.

”The regulatory framework, which categorises AI applications based on risk and tightens regulation on higher risk levels, was initially proposed in 2021, according to a CNN report. Related Articles Homecoming: Sam Altman officially reinstated as OpenAI CEO, Microsoft gets observer seat on board Google bets big on BharatGPT-maker CoRover, to invest $4 mn in India’s answer to OpenAI, ChatGPT The risky uses of Artificial Intelligence have been banned. According to the law, those include systems that target certain vulnerable groups, biometric identification systems for law enforcement uses and artificial intelligence that employs manipulative “subliminal techniques.

”Limited-risk systems, such as chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, or technology that generates images, audio or video content, will face new transparency obligations under the law. Thierry Breton, the EU Commissioner for Internal Market, stressed that the AI Act is much more than a rulebook. Taking to X, Breton stated, “Historic! The EU becomes the very first continent to set clear rules for the use of AI The #AIAct is much more than a rulebook — it’s a launchpad for EU startups and researchers to lead the global AI race.

The best is yet to come!”Artificial intelligence entered the mainstream after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022. Generative AI technology gained popularity and led to an AI arms race, according to a CNN report. The EU took an early lead in the global race to draw up AI guardrails when it unveiled the first draft of its rulebook in 2021.

The recent boom in generative AI, however, sent European officials scrambling to update a proposal poised to serve as a blueprint for the world. The European Parliament will still need to vote on the act early next year, but with the deal done that’s a formality, Brando Benifei, an Italian lawmaker co-leading the body’s negotiating efforts, told The Associated Press late Friday. Generative AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT have exploded into the world’s consciousness, dazzling users with the ability to produce human-like text, photos and songs but raising fears about the risks the rapidly developing technology poses to jobs, privacy and copyright protection and even human life itself.

Now, the U. S. , U.

K. , China and global coalitions like the Group of 7 major democracies have jumped in with their own proposals to regulate AI, though they’re still catching up to Europe. Strong and comprehensive rules from the EU “can set a powerful example for many governments considering regulation,” said Anu Bradford, a Columbia Law School professor who’s an expert on EU law and digital regulation.

Other countries “may not copy every provision but will likely emulate many aspects of it. ” AI companies subject to the EU’s rules will also likely extend some of those obligations outside the continent, she said. “After all, it is not efficient to re-train separate models for different markets,” she said.

The AI Act was originally designed to mitigate the dangers from specific AI functions based on their level of risk, from low to unacceptable. But lawmakers pushed to expand it to foundation models, the advanced systems that underpin general-purpose AI services like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbot. Foundation models looked set to be one of the biggest sticking points for Europe.

However, negotiators managed to reach a tentative compromise early in the talks, despite opposition led by France, which called instead for self-regulation to help homegrown European generative AI companies compete with big U. S rivals, including OpenAI’s backer Microsoft. Also known as large language models, these systems are trained on vast troves of written works and images scraped off the internet.

They give generative AI systems the ability to create something new, unlike traditional AI, which processes data and completes tasks using predetermined rules. The companies building foundation models will have to draw up technical documentation, comply with EU copyright law and detail the content used for training. The most advanced foundation models that pose “systemic risks” will face extra scrutiny, including assessing and mitigating those risks, reporting serious incidents, putting cybersecurity measures in place and reporting their energy efficiency.

Researchers have warned that powerful foundation models, built by a handful of big tech companies, could be used to supercharge online disinformation and manipulation, cyberattacks or the creation of bioweapons. Rights groups also caution that the lack of transparency about data used to train the models poses risks to daily life because they act as basic structures for software developers building AI-powered services. What became the thorniest topic was AI-powered face recognition surveillance systems, and negotiators found a compromise after intensive bargaining.

European lawmakers wanted a full ban on public use of face scanning and other “remote biometric identification” systems because of privacy concerns. But governments of member countries succeeded in negotiating exemptions so law enforcement could use them to tackle serious crimes like child sexual exploitation or terrorist attacks. Rights groups said they were concerned about the exemptions and other big loopholes in the AI Act, including the lack of protection for AI systems used in migration and border control, and the option for developers to opt out of having their systems classified as high risk.

“Whatever the victories may have been in these final negotiations, the fact remains that huge flaws will remain in this final text,” said Daniel Leufer, a senior policy analyst at the digital rights group Access Now. With inputs from agencies. Join our Whatsapp channel to get the latest global news updates Published on: December 09, 2023 10:47:51 IST TAGS: Artificial Intelligence Rules Chatgpt Eu Eu Lawmakers.