The law was debated for months and is seen as a milestone that could serve as a blueprint for the rest of the world. It was created in response to concerns about the misuse of AI, including instances where AI was linked to harmful outcomes such as family separations and alleged discrimination. The law will take effect in stages over the next two years. However, there are concerns about loopholes for law enforcement and the potential impact on innovation among AI startups.
Key takeaways:
- The European Union has agreed on the details of the AI Act, a comprehensive set of rules for the development and use of artificial intelligence, aiming to create a blueprint for the rest of the world.
- The law includes bans on biometric systems that identify people using sensitive characteristics, and the indiscriminate scraping of faces from the internet. It also includes transparency requirements for all general purpose AI models and stronger rules for powerful models.
- Companies that don’t comply with the rules can be fined up to 7 percent of their global turnover. The bans on prohibited AI will take effect in six months, the transparency requirements in 12 months, and the full set of rules in around two years.
- The major point of disagreement during the final discussions was whether law enforcement should be allowed to use facial recognition or other types of biometrics to identify people either in real time or retrospectively.