EU Gets Big Step Closer to Novel AI Regulations

EU Parliament has approved AI Act, a key step in the process
By Steve Huff,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 14, 2023 3:44 PM CDT
EU Gets Big Step Closer to Novel AI Regulations
   (Getty Images / Ilya Lukichev)

The European Parliament voted to approve the EU AI Act Wednesday, which the AP reports puts what would be some of the first major AI regulations just a few steps away from becoming law. The Washington Post reports the act would place "unprecedented restrictions" on companies' use of AI. Under the act, AI systems would be classified as one of four levels of risk, from minimal (think uses involving video games or spam filters) to unacceptable. Those deemed as presenting "unacceptable" risks—the Post gives predictive policing tools, which use data to classify who will commit crimes, as an example—would be banned.

Particular scrutiny would fall on uses that could lead to human harm, like AI systems involved in running critical infrastructure. The New York Times reports that before AI systems could go live, their makers would have to complete risk assessments, a process the paper likens to the drug approval process. The legislation would also requiring content created by chatbots like ChatGPT to be labeled, and would require companies to document and publish summaries of what copyrighted data it used to train their AI systems.

As the AP explains, that would enable content creators to know whether "their blog posts, digital books, scientific articles, or songs have been used to train algorithms that power systems like ChatGPT. Then they could decide whether their work has been copied and seek redress." Tech companies counter that such a requirement is "technically infeasible," per the Times.

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The Times reports the EU is paces ahead of the United States when it comes to such regulations; indeed, these were first proposed in 2021. Sen Chuck Schumer told the Post it'll likely be fall before lawmakers are ready to consider legislation. A final version of the AI Act is expected to pass by year's end. (More artificial intelligence stories.)

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