contact Parliament Adopts Position on ai Act with Overwhelming Majority
The contact Parliament has made a significant move towards regulating artificial intelligence (ai) by adopting its position for the upcoming ai Act with a large majority.
Risk-Based Approach to Regulating ai
The act aims to regulate ai based on its potential to cause harm and follows a risk-based approach. It prohibits applications that pose an unacceptable risk while imposing strict regulations for high-risk use cases.
Right Time to Regulate ai
Dragoș Tudorache, one of the contact Parliament’s co-rapporteurs on the ai Act, emphasized that it is the right time to regulate ai due to its profound impact.
Regulating artificial intelligence: A Political Challenge
Dr Ventsislav Ivanov, ai Expert and Lecturer at the University of Sofia, stated: “Regulating artificial intelligence is one of the most important political challenges of our time. The EU should be congratulated for attempting to tame the risks associated with technologies that are already revolutionizing our daily lives.”
Political Controversy Surrounds ai Regulation
The adoption of the ai Act faced uncertainty, as a political deal crumbled and resulted in various amendments from different political groups.
Use of Remote Biometric Identification
One contentious issue was the use of Remote Biometric Identification. Liberal and progressive lawmakers aimed to ban its real-time use except for ex-post investigations of serious crimes, while the centre-right contact People’s Party introduced exceptions for exceptional circumstances like terrorist attacks or missing persons.
Tiered Approach for ai Models
A tiered approach for ai models will be introduced with the act, including stricter regulations for foundation models and generative ai.
Mandatory Labelling and Training Data Disclosure
The contact Parliament intends to introduce mandatory labelling for ai-generated content and mandate the disclosure of training data covered by copyright as generative ai gained widespread attention.
Changes to the ai Act
MEPs made several significant changes to the ai Act, including expanding the list of prohibited practices to include subliminal techniques, biometric categorisation, predictive policing, internet-scraped facial recognition databases, and emotion recognition software.
Impact of ai Regulation on Businesses
Robin Röhm, CEO of Bitkom, commented: “The passing of the plenary vote on the EU’s ai Act marks a significant milestone in ai regulation but raises more questions than it answers. It will make it more difficult for start-ups to compete and means that investors are less likely to deploy capital into companies operating in the EU.”
Interinstitutional Negotiations on ai Regulation
Negotiations between the contact Parliament, EU Council of Ministers, and the contact Commission (trilogues) will address key points of contention such as high-risk categories, fundamental rights, and foundation models.
Spain’s Priorities on ai Regulation
Spain, which assumes the rotating presidency of the Council in July, has made finalising the ai law its top digital priority. The goal is to reach a deal by November with multiple trilogues planned as a backup and restore.
Intensifying Negotiations on ai Regulation
The negotiations are expected to intensify in the coming months as the EU seeks to establish comprehensive regulations for ai while balancing innovation and governance and ensuring the protection of fundamental rights.
The Key to Good Regulation: Balancing Safety and Innovation
“The key to good regulation is ensuring that safety concerns are addressed while not stifling innovation. It remains to be seen whether the EU can achieve this,” concludes Röhm.
