A committee of European Union lawmakers reached preliminary agreement on Thursday on a European law on artificial intelligence, which would pave the way for the first-ever regulation of AI.
“In the face of conservative wishes for more oversight and leftist fantasies about over-regulation, parliament has found a solid compromise that would regulate AI proportionately, protect citizens’ rights, as well as promote innovation and boost the economy,” said Svenja Hahn, a deputy of the European Parliament. .
The European Commission proposed the draft rules almost two years ago in an effort to protect citizens from the dangers of the emerging technology, which has experienced explosive growth in investment and among consumers in recent months.
The draft must be fought out between EU countries and EU lawmakers, called a trilogue, before the rules can become law.
Under the proposals, companies making generative AI tools such as ChatGPT would have to disclose whether they have used copyrighted material in their systems.
Lawmakers have tried to strike a balance between encouraging innovation and protecting citizens’ fundamental rights.
This led to different AI tools being classified according to their perceived level of risk: from minimal to limited, high and unacceptable. High-risk tools will not be banned, but they do require companies to be highly transparent in their activities.
In the US, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday urged CEOs of several artificial intelligence (AI) companies to prioritize security measures, fight bias and roll out new technologies responsibly.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner expressed concern about the potential risks of AI technology. “However, industry commitments aside, it is also clear that some level of regulation is needed in this area,” said Warner, who sent letters to the CEOs of OpenAI, Scale AI, Meta Platforms, Alphabet’s Google, Apple , Stability AI, Midjourney , Antropisch, Percipient.ai and Microsoft.
© Thomson Reuters 2023