The World Watches as the EU Sets the First AI Regulatory Standard

The European Parliament has passed the world’s first set of artificial intelligence regulations — the EU AI Act — which will head to the European Council for negotiations next.

The regulations still have a long way to go before becoming law — but they will set the tone for how other global nations approach AI. What’s at stake?

• Jobs: Goldman has predicted that 300M jobs are at risk, with 58% of people in the UK wanting AI regulations to protect their positions.
• Copyright: Media companies and artists want regulation to protect their work — which is currently being used to train AI models.
• Misinformation: AI systems have been shown to give false information — with one NY lawyer caught referencing fake legal cases created by ChatGPT in court.

Here’s what’s in the EU AI Act proposal:

1/ Generative AI systems must be approved before commercialization, and AI-created content must be labeled.

2/ Summaries of copyrighted data used in the AI’s training must be published.

3/ A ban on facial recognition, automated biometric identification,  and “social scoring” systems.

How will this impact companies?

Several CEOs have warned that restricting AI too much could slow innovation while letting other countries pull ahead — with several citing China as the main risk.

• Depending on its final form, CEO Sam Altman says ChatGPT’s creator, OpenAI, could “cease operating” in the EU because of the new legislation.
• Google delayed the European launch of its AI chatbot, Bard, with some speculating data privacy laws as the reason.

Microsoft’s president expects US AI regulation in a year. But in what form they come varies depending on which big tech CEO you ask.