The new Artificial Intelligence Act, and its relevance
By Beatriz Santos Mayo, 3 minutes
New concerns have emerged about the role of artificial intelligence after the enactment of the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act. In response, the European Parliament and the Council entered negotiations and reached a provisional agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act last December. I had the opportunity to interview one of the MEPs involved in this policy outcome; you can read the interview here.
Necessity for a policy, the creation of an Act
As one of the four priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, strategic industries and technologies were the push to start formal conversations to create an act that would regulate Artificial Intelligence.
During the negotiations, the idea that this legislation would become a regulation that would impede or even stop innovation in this industry has been one of the main complaints or worries surrounding it. The legislators vehemently disagree with this notion, stating that while AI innovation can proceed, only systems that satisfy the Regulation's requirements will be sold. One of the few known aspects regarding the standard is its risk-based approach, which would require corporations to comply when there is a risk to people's safety, health, or fundamental rights before marketing or using AI technology.
Works of the past for the improvement of the future
The European Regulation on Artificial Intelligence is not limited to the European market; it is supplemented by other regulations regarding the technological domain that are either relatively new or have been in effect for a while. They aim to establish a just and efficient legal framework for markets, data, and digital services. Some of the regulations that the EU has established are:
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), related not only to the market in which the former works but also to the latter's goal of achieving the same kind of global impact that the former achieved and then spreading to other countries.
New laws, like the Data Governance Act and the European Data Act, will promote technological innovation and enable the development of a safe and open European data market.
Finally, the Digital Market Act and the Digital Service Act aim to bring all participants in the digital single market back into balance, effectively ending the period of Internet deregulation.
Basis of the regulation
Because of the possible threats to citizens' rights and democracy, legislators agreed to ban AI systems that control human behaviour or exploit people's vulnerabilities. They also prohibited the untargeted scraping of facial photographs from the internet to construct facial recognition databases and biometric categorisation systems based on sensitive traits.
The policymakers agreed on certain protections and specific exceptions for law enforcement using biometric identification systems (RBI) in publicly accessible areas.
An individual found guilty of a significant crime or suspected of doing so, would only be the subject of a targeted search using the "Post-remote" RBI. Additionally, the "Real-time" RBI would be subject to stringent guidelines, and its use would be restricted in terms of time and place. These uses would be limited to the prevention, localisation, or identification of an individual suspected of having committed one of the specific crimes listed in the regulation and to targeted searches of victims.
Small-medium enterprises were also considered. To create and train cutting-edge AI before it is put on the market, national authorities built what are known as regulatory sandboxes and real-world testing, promoted by the agreement.
Lastly, depending on the violation and size of the organisation, non-compliance with this law may result in fines ranging from 35 million Euros, or 7% of worldwide revenue, to 7.5 million, or 1.5% of turnover.
Final remarks
The rapporteurs, Dragos Tudorache and Brando Benifei were excited after the end of the discussions, and both remarked on the importance of this regulation. Highlighting the economic factors and the European promise to ensure rights and freedoms.
“It protects our SMEs, strengthens our capacity to innovate and lead in the field of AI, and protects vulnerable sectors of our economy. The European Union has made impressive contributions to the world; the AI Act is another one that will significantly impact our digital future”.
Dragos Tudorache (Renew)
The Artificial Intelligence Act is poised to substantially impact Europe´s digital future, ensuring that technological progress goes hand in hand with the protection of fundamental rights and freedom.
