AI: EU parliamentarians approve draft regulation – 05/11/2023 – Tech

European lawmakers have taken another step towards approving new rules for artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, after a decisive vote on Thursday (11) in which they agreed to a stricter bill.

The long-awaited EU (European Union) Artificial Intelligence Act could be the world’s first comprehensive legislation governing the technology, with new rules on the use of facial recognition, biometric surveillance and other applications.

After two years of negotiations, the bill is expected to move on to the next phase of the process, in which parliamentarians will finalize details with the European Commission and individual member states.

According to the proposals, artificial intelligence tools will be classified according to their level of perceived risk, from low to unacceptable. Governments and companies using these tools will have different obligations depending on the level of risk.

In this Thursday’s vote, MEPs agreed to ban the use of facial recognition in public spaces, predictive policing tools and impose new transparency measures on generative artificial intelligence applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

“This vote is a milestone in AI regulation and a clear signal from Parliament that fundamental rights must be a pillar of that,” MEP Kim van Sparrentak told Reuters. “Artificial intelligence should serve people, society and the environment, not the other way around.”

The bill will be put to a plenary vote by the European Parliament in June, before the final terms are agreed in talks ” involving representatives of the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission.

Once the terms are finalized and the bill becomes law, there will be a grace period of about two years to allow affected parties to comply with the regulations.