It is official: the European Union has passed the first set of regulatory rules for artificial intelligence in the world.
People have been working hard to get AI regulated and governed since the technology was first created.
Theirry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, said, “Europe is NOW a global leader in AI.” The head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, called it “trailblazing” and said it would allow new ideas while setting safety standards.
A lot of politicians are glad that rules are being made, but they say that putting them into action will be the hardest part. The EU AI Act says that there are three levels of risk: unacceptable, high, and low. If people behave badly, the devices could be taken away.
The risks and problems that might come with AI have been at the center of research, and big tech companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Google have jumped into the field. One possible risk is the spread of false information. Many lawmakers are afraid about the spread of false information and news stories made up by AI before the election.
A lot of lawyers are glad that new rules have been put in place. They hope that this will inspire other countries to do the same and make their own rules and laws.
There are now rules in place thanks to the EU, and many people are not surprised that it was the EU that led the way in making these rules.
Steven Farmer, a partner and AI expert at the law company Pillsbury said, “Once again, it was the EU that moved first, coming up with a very thorough set of rules.”
Others have said that the new rules are a good start, but that businesses and companies will need to work closely with politicians to figure out how the rules will be put into place. Others have said that these rules are good, but that because technology changes so quickly, they might not be useful for a long time.
