After days of negotiations, provisional European rules have now been agreed to curb artificial intelligence, also known as AI. The EU is the first to restrict the breakthrough technology. Since the arrival of language bot ChapGPT at the end of 2022, there have been concerns about the rapid advance of AI. Although the new technology offers many opportunities, there are also concerns about safety.
“Historic moment”
The so-called European AI Act classifies AI applications according to risk. The higher the risk, the stricter the rules. The most dangerous, such as citizen monitoring systems that reward or punish citizens for their behavior, will be banned. The agreement still needs to be approved by the full EU parliament and the EU member states, but that is usually a formality. The responsible French European Commissioner Thierry Breton speaks of a “historic” moment.
The negotiators discussed AI for facial recognition for a long time. Parliament wanted to ban this, but member states want to allow it if it is necessary for safety. This is now made possible, with some limitations. If the new rules are officially adopted early next year, it is expected that the law will not come into force until the end of 2025 or in the course of 2026.
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