Thierry Breton, European Commissioner, on December 8, tweeted expressing that the European Union becomes the very first continent to establish rules for AI use. A provisional deal has been reached by the officials on the very first set of comprehensive laws of the world to regulate artificial intelligence use. This comes after a long 37-hour negotiation between the EU member states and the European Parliament. The European Parliament will be giving their votes on the AI Act at the beginning of the coming year. By the year 2025, a law is likely to come into force.
The legislative framework of the European Union
The framework comprises safeguards on AI use within the European Union. These safeguards will include the framework through which consumers will be made empowered to file complaints against violations, and precise guardrails on AI adoption by law enforcement agencies.
The deal has come up with robust restrictions on facial recognition technology. It also comes up with strong restrictions on the use of AI for the purpose of manipulating human behavior, along with provisions comprising stiff penalties for firms that violate the rules. Governments can make use of real-time biometric surveillance in public areas only in situations where serious threats are involved.
Here's how Breton expressed the news on Twitter.
Historic!
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) December 8, 2023
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! 👍 pic.twitter.com/W9rths31MU
Talking about the legislation, Breton stated that the legislation was formulated to be "much more than a rulebook". He further expressed that the legislation is proposed as a "launch pad for EU start-ups and researchers to lead the global AI race".
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission expressed that the AI Act will aid the development of technology that doesn't threaten the safety and rights of people. The President expressed through a social media post that it was actually a “unique legal framework for the development of AI you can trust”.
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The EU legal framework categorizes AI applications into four distinct risk classes. On one end of this spectrum, the applications are going to be banned. These things will comprise the deployment of facial recognition technology on a large scale, with a few exemptions for law enforcement. AI applications centering around behavioral control will also get banned. The use of AI tools for self-driving cars will be permitted, but it will be subject to certification, as this falls in the category of high-risk applications.
Applications falling under the ambit of "medium risk" can be deployed sans any restrictions, on the generative AI chatbots. However, there needs to be detailed documentation of the working of tech. Additionally, the users have to be reminded that no matter how much "human-like" experience the AI provides them, they are still talking to machines and not to humans.
Developers will be made to comply with obligations relating to transparency prior to releasing their chatbots into markets for public use. These obligations will include being transparent about the details regarding the contents made to use for the purpose of training the algorithm.
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Europe has been firm in the last decade in tech regulation, and leading over the United States in this regard. However, with regard to Artificial Intelligence, the United States too has come up with a remarkable lead with the novel White House Executive Order on AI. This proves to be an elaborate example for other countries to follow working in the same direction.
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