The EU has taken a step closer to enforcing strong regulation of AI, drafting new safeguards that would prohibit a wide range of dangerous use cases. These include prohibitions on mass facial recognition programs in public places and predictive policing algorithms that try to identify future offenders using personal data. The regulation also requires the creation of a public database of “high-risk” AI systems deployed by public and government authorities so that EU citizens can be informed about when and how they are being affected by this technology.
The law in question is a new draft of the EU’s AI Act, which was approved today by two key committees: the Internal Market Committee and the Civil Liberties Committee. These committees are MEPs (members of the European Parliament) who have been charged with overseeing the legislation’s development. They approved the finished draft with 84 votes in favour, seven against, and 12 abstentions.
The AI Act itself is a sprawling document that’s been in the works for years, with the explosion of interest in generative AI tools this year forcing a number of significant and last-minute changes. This extra attention, though, seems to have focused lawmakers on the potential dangers of this fast-moving technology. Campaigners say the version of the act approved this morning — which still faces possible changes — is extremely welcome.
“It’s overwhelmingly good news,” Daniel Leufer, a senior policy analyst at nonprofit Access Now, told The Verge. “I think there’s been huge positive changes made to the text.”
As Chander suggests, it’s likely these laws will affect countries around the world. The EU is such a significant market that tech companies often comply with EU-specific regulation on a global scale in order to reduce the friction of maintaining multiple sets of standards.
Information demanded by the EU on AI systems will also be available globally, potentially benefitting users in the US, UK, and elsewhere. The main changes to the act approved today are a series of bans on what the European Parliament describes as “intrusive and discriminatory uses of AI systems.”
However, the AI Act is still subject to change. After its approval by EU parliamentary committees, it will face a plenary vote next month before going into trilogues — a series of closed-door negotiations involving EU member states and the bloc’s controlling bodies.
Chander says that some of the prohibitions most prized by campaigners — including biometric surveillance and predictive policing — will cause “a major fight” at the trilogues. “Member states have argued that these uses of AI are necessary to fight crime and maintain security,” says Chander, noting that, at the same time, “rights experts have argued that surveillance does not equal safety, and in fact these uses of AI … redirect policing and surveillance into already marginalised and over-policed communities.”
Following trilogues, the AI Act will need to be approved before spring 2024 — a tight turnaround for such a huge piece of legislation.
