Marching towards the world’s first ever AI legislation

by Bartosz Jankowski

The date 14 June 2023 will go down in the annals of history as the moment when the European Parliament passed its negotiation position on the Artificial Intelligence Act with a clear majority of votes, taking the next major step towards adopting the first major horizontal AI legislation in the world.

Focus

The new AI Act draft proposes amendments to the previously approved Commission bill, concentrating mainly on safety, transparency and upholding of fundamental rights.

Risks

To that end, MEPs proposed modifications to the risk-based approach of the AI Act that include further bans on intrusive and discriminatory uses of AI (particularly biometric surveillance, emotion recognition and predictive policing), including more AI systems in the high-risk AI category and further transparency requirements regarding AI training.

Progress

At the same time, European legislators proposed to further support innovation through additional exemptions for research activities and expanding regulatory sandboxes.

The draft moves forward at a time, when Big Tech leaders are ever so loudly raising concerns about their own AI creations, calling for regulatory action regarding AI technological advancement. The next step forward will be negotiations with the Council on the final form of the law.

Photo: aicandy - stock.adobe.com (generative ai)

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